Hunting a Lost Shadow
by Kierra Noelle
Summary: Bianca is gone. That's what all of Camp Half-blood thinks including her little brother. But that just wasn't true. No. The truth was that Bianca had gone on a quest. She wanted to return to Camp, but she couldn't, at least not until she could find it, she had to find the shadow before it was too late. If she failed, all demigods would perish. That's all she knew. Destroy IT.
1. I End up on an Island

I darted away knowing full well that I was headed straight for my death. I would die fighting a mechanical robot made of scrap-metal, but not even fighting, just, being squished under its foot.

"What are you doing?" I heard Zoe yell.

"Get it to raise its foot!" I called back.

Zoe didn't hesitate, she pulled her bow and shot the piece of junk straight into the nostril. I grinned, "Nice." That's when I noticed Percy, the monster lifted its foot and I took my chance and scrambled inside. It took a moment to adjust to the cramped inside and the rusty ladder, but I knew I had to get moving otherwise my friends would be flattened like pancakes! Steadying myself I gripped tight to the ladder and hulled myself up as best as I could. As the monster began to move again I quickened my pace.

"Whoa!" I screamed as one of the bars fell off the ladder, I hurried up.

At the end of the ladder was a, what looked like, a control room, now I may not have been Charles Beckendorf, but I could definitely tell that this was where the robot would be controlled. I rushed around pulling all of the levers and pushing all of the buttons that I could, but eventually I saw the pattern. Where its arms and legs were controlled ans stuff like that and I had a brilliant idea. _The Funky Chicken._ I felt the robot stop and maybe it had just been my imagination, but I thought I heard Percy yell, "Go Bianca!"

I grinned, "I did it!" All I had to do was figure out and plan my great escape, that's when everything went wrong. The robot began to move and I saw as pieces of rust and metals and trashed objects were rattling electric sparks flying. I bit my lip. There was no getting out of this. A rusty fan came loose and fell inches from where I stood and I yelped. The robot leaned sideways and I fell into the sparking wires. My entire body went numb and my mind went hazy. More pieced fell and there was a piercing pain in my lower abdomen. That's all I saw before I blacked out.

...

 _I don't know how long it was before I began to hear a voice. "Bianca, you're alright."_

 _I recognized the voice, but couldn't quite place it, I tried to speak, but no words came out._

 _"Everything will be fine, just take care of your little brother for me!"_

 _Mama. I opened my mouth, I didn't want her to go, but again no sound came out. Why couldn't I see her. I was alone in darkness, but slowly a scene spread out before my eyes. My mother, Nico, and I were all sitting at the dinner table, a radio sat between us all as we ate our supper of pasta and bread. Nico looked about six years old, so I must've been eight. They spoke to each other in a language I didn't understand, but that didn't make any sense because I was them. I tried to recognize the language, and soon I realized that it was Italian. Fratellino. I remembered. It was all very hazy, but I remembered. Nico and I were raised in Italy, our mother had a decent amount of money for back then. I remembered going to school with my little brother and being taught to read and write in not only Italian, but English as well. Mama always wanted to move to America so she focused on that a lot around us. She was so beautiful._

 _Slowly I could make out what they were saying._

 _"No, that's not what he was like." Mama smiled._

 _"Well, did he have a beard?" Nico asked._

 _Mama laughed, "I guess it was kind of a beard."_

 _"Kind of?" I questioned._

 _I didn't know who they were talking about._

 _"Let's see, he had dark hair, just like you two. And his eyes were a cold dark grey. He... he loved to spend time near the cemetery-"_

 _"What? But the cemetery is scary with lots of dead people!" Nico exclaimed, his dark eyes wide open._

 _Mama let out another giggle, and I realized that they were talking about my father whom I had never met. Slowly my dream began to shift and I saw Nico, eyes full of tears talking to Percy. I couldn't make out the words, but soon again there was nothing._

When I finally came to I was... in a cave? There were flowers and designs stretching all alone the walls. Vines were tangled in a heap which looked like, maybe the entrance. I tried to sit up, but as soon as I did a wave of nausea passed through me and I almost passed out again. There was a huge pain in my lower abdomen. "Aah." I breathed out. _Where was I?_ This couldn't have been Elysium, it was too painful. Was it the fields of Asphodel, but I wouldn't have remembered who I was. Bianca Maria Di Angelo, yep I remembered. The Fields of Punishment possibly, but it couldn't have been so pretty. I was dead though, so where was I?

"You're awake."

I almost fell off of the hammock I was lying in I was so surprised to hear a voice.

"Wha?!" I managed.

"Don't move too much, you're still badly injured!" the voice cautioned.

I turned my head to face a beautiful girl, she looked like she was about fifteen or sixteen. She had long golden brown hair that reached her belly and her eyes were like two caramel orbs that glowed. She wore a white dress that fell to her knees with a golden belt around her waist and button that was draped over her shoulder.

I blinked, "Who-" I was too shocked at my own voice to say anymore. It was the mix of a toad and a raspy old man.

The pretty girl smiled gently, "My name is Calypso, but you must rest.

Confused, but tired, I didn't argue, I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

...

I didn't have any word dreams, but when I came to again I realized that I was not in a cave, but what I thought were carvings were really flowers lining a wooden frame. The pain in my abdomen had subsided which felt odd, _where was I?_ I remembered the girl, Calypso, and waking up in a cave, so I must not have been dreaming that part. This time when I sat up, I didn't feel any pain or nausea. I took this time to get a bearing of my surroundings. I was in a wooden hut. It was beautiful. The "cave entrance" was really just vines dangling in front of the opening, they were decorated in flowers. There was also a basket full of clothes, similar to the white dress that she was wearing. The entire place was decorated in different types of flowers and it smelled wonderful.

"You wake again." Yes, and again I almost leaped out of my skin.

"You sure have a way of sneaking up on people." I remarked.

"Do I?" She seemed pleasantly surprised.

"Well, you kind of scared the Hades out of me both of the times that I've woken up, I mean, you just _appear_." I explained.

Calypso studied me, "So, what's your name then?"

I was taken back by the question, although I didn't know why, "Uh, Bianca... Bianca Di Angelo." I stammered.

Calypso smiled. "I have already introduced myself, but I am Calypso daughter of Atlas."

I must've been a bit shocked because after she saw my face she asked, "Are you okay?"

Atlas was the one who traded places with Luke so they could trick Annabeth into holding the entire sky, but then Lady Artemis took Annabeth's place and that's why... "I need to get back to my friends!" I blurted.

Calypso frowned for a moment, but said, "I know."

"So, how do I get back to them?"

"That.. That is what I am trying to figure out,"She admitted, "I really don't have a clue." Her expression turned more into a guilty one instead of confused.

"Well, there had to be some way, where's everyone else?" I pursued.

Calypso gave me a remorseful look, "Bianca, this island is known as Ogygia, I was put her for supporting my father in the first Titan War, this is my punishment, I can never leave."

"That's stupid! Just because you supported your father! I mean, you're really nice, you healed me, I would've died!" I argued.

"I wish I could agree with you, but there may be a way to get you off of this island." She insisted.

"Hold up, you just said that-"

"I know, but maybe it will still work."

I was confused, "So, what exactly are we doing?" I asked.

"You're going to help me with the Garden." She smiled.

"That's going to get me back home?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure, but maybe... just maybe it will work."

I began to attempt to get off of my hammock, but Calypso grabbed my arm, "maybe not yet."

I frowned, "But I need to, I mean, how long have I been in bed?"

Calypso's eyebrows furrowed, "Time carries no meaning on this island, I have no idea. I am sorry"

"Oh.." I must have sounded more glum than I intended because Calypso immediately wrapped her arms around me.

"If I could do something, I assure you I would, but I just don't know for now..." She released her hold on me, "I really am sorry."

"The garden! You said something about that!" I remembered.

"I don't know if you're up for it yet..."

Without thinking I stood up, and of course Calypso was right. As soon as I stood my head split in two, not literally. "Ah!" I yelped.

"You still need some rest. Here." She handed me a... I have no idea what it was.

"What's this?"

"It"s an ambrosia square, it should make you feel quite better. After you eat it, sleep for a while. Then we can talk about the garden."

I reluctantly ate the ambrosia square. Surprisingly it didn't taste awful. It tasted just like mama's brownies that she used to make... the ones with the extra chocolate. I felt tired. And slowly my eyes closed and I drifted into the wonderful world of sleep.


	2. I Am No Longer a Hunter

I had no dreams. I awoke once more to a bright sun that almost blinded me. This time I knew exactly where I was, Ogygia. There was someone else here too, what was her name? Campy? Calpo? Calypso. I remembered. I was stuck on an island with the daughter of a Titan, the titan who was currently holding Lady Artemis captive. I had to get off the island, that was for sure, but Calypso said I couldn't. How could I...

"You're up!" Calypso smiled gently.

"Wha-" I gasped snapping out of my thoughts, "Why do you keep doing this?"

"Oh!" She giggled, "I'm sorry, I really don't mean to but it's just you weren't turning around when I tapped you on the shoulder."

"Sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts." I explained.

"It's fine! Nothing really! But you look a lot better, I'm glad."

"It's all thanks to you that I'm not dead! And I would love to repay you somehow, but I need to get back to my friends..." I trailed off.

"I know, Bianca, but I just am not sure how. You see there is another curse I bear." Calypso's voice saddened..

"Would it be too much of me to ask what it is?" I perused.

"Not at all," she smiled again. A sad smile. "You are not the first hero to arrive on this island, if you can believe. There have been... others."

I stared at her, urging her to continue on with the story.

"Well, all these other heroes I couldn't help but falling in love with them. Of course all of them could not stay. They had to return to their mission or friends or something. After I fall in love with them, shortly after, a raft will appear. That is the way to get off the island."

"A raft?" I inquired.

"Yes, it takes you off the island to wherever you command it it to go."

"Why couldn't you just take the raft with one of your loves?" I decided to ask.

"It is not so simple. I cannot leave. They must go, but I cannot." Her expression turned glum.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"No, it is I who should be sorry. I haven't a clue on how to get _you_ off the island." She turned towards me.

That's when I realized the problem as well. Of course all the heroes are gonna be dudes! How would Calypso fall in love with me so I could escape the island? There was something that just wasn't right!

"You've never had a girl here before?" I tried.

Calypso shook her head, "I haven't, unless you count the goddesses. I am supposed to remain alone here... so there must be someway to get you off Ogygia."

I gave her a grin. "Before I went to sleep last, you said something about the garden?"

Calypso's eyes brightened a bit, "Yes! I thought that maybe if you would help in the garden the gods might realize that they've made a mistake and you could go back to your friends."

I thought for a moment, "The gods. They're the ones that choose who comes here?"

"Well, one. Zeus"

Zeus. For some reason hearing that name made me angry. Why was the name of the king of the gods making me so anxious... annoyed. Zeus could've been my dad for all I knew! All the other gods and goddesses name did _not_ make me feel like this. Maybe Hephaestus now, but at least I would know why. Besides, Zeus was Thalia's father. I should respect him. But instead I just felt... hatred?

"Bianca, are you alright?" Calypso's eyes were full of concern.

"Yeah, sorry." I must've spaced out for a bit.

She smiled, "Come on, I'm sure the flowers will make you feel better."

...

The flowers made me feel better. I had followed Calypso to an entire greenery of different colors and patterns. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. And the smell! It was an aroma as beautiful as every perfume I had ever smelled. And I realized, it was what Calypso smelled like with a hint of cinnamon!

"Whoa." I mumbled.

Calypso grinned, "This is all I've been able to do for the past I don't know how many years, but it has felt like an eternity."

I felt so sorry for Calypso. Being forced to live on an island excluded from any contact with others just because of something your father did. I longed to help her somehow, but I couldn't really do much. What was a 12 year old girl who didn't even know who her father was going to do? Exactly.

"It's so beautiful." I murmured.

Calypso's face lightened, "I told you it would make you feel quite better. It always makes me feel, even though it's not much, just... a small bit better.

It was at that moment when I realized that Calypso had to have done this all on her own. She tended to all of her flowers. I mean what else were you going to do with all that spare time? But it was still so impressive. I gazed at the flowers, at her. Calypso was truly amazing. There was something about her. She was so kind and compassionate. She gave me something that I couldn't even remember having. She cared for me. Since the Lotus and even a bit before then, I had always been the one to take care of my younger brother. I took him to school, tended to him while he was sick, helped him with... with everything! How nice it was to be in the other position. Calypso acted as an older sister to me and I admired her greatly.

"Oh! I should tell you the names of these flowers shouldn't I!" She said spinning around towards me, "If you want..." she added hastily.

"I'd like that!" I replied.

We went over tons of different flowers, so many that I thought I was fit to be a daughter of Demeter! After a while when the dusk finally was setting in, we came across a flower that she called, Moonlace. It had to be my favorite. It was a flower that literally glowed. It was a silver sparkling color that my eyes would not wander away. So I stared in astonishment of its beauty. Maybe it reminded me of something, I don't know what but it struck a warm fuzzy feeling inside of me. I watched as Calypso bent down and gently plucked it out of the ground. She mumbled some words that I either didn't hear or in another language that I did not know.

"Here," she said placing the flower inside of my palm, "I enchanted it so that it may never wilt."

I glanced up at Calypso, then back to the flower in my hand, "Thank you." I beamed, "Really!"

Calypso looked delighted, "When you get off this island, take it with you for good luck."

"I promise I will."

...

Calypso led me to a hut like house. Which I guessed was her home.

"I'll set up a spare hammock in which you may sleep in if you'd like."

I nodded.

While Calypso was setting up a spare bed, I took it as a time to ask some more questions.

"How did I end up here?"

Calypso sighed, "You must've been badly injured in a battle. Your wounds were very fatal, it is a miracle that you survived."

I knew what battle that was, "I was fighting an iron giant."

Calypso's expression contorted into that of a puzzled one.

"It was in Hephaestus's junkyard. All the scrap metal came together and I defeated it to save my friends." I explained.

"I take it one of you took something from all the scraps."

"Yeah, it was my fault in the first place so why would anyone else have to be injured fighting it but me."

Calypso tied some rope-vine things to two opposing places in the hut, "You're a Hunter of Artemis."

"Yeah, how did you know?" I hadn't a clue how she knew what I was, I hadn't mentioned it before, right?

She bit her upper lip, "You _were_ a Hunter of Artemis... most likely not anymore."

"What do you mean by that!?"

She looked at me with sympathy, "I don't know how long you've been gone, but they probably assumed that you died while fighting that giant."

"And that makes me not a hunter anymore?" I was still confused.

"The hunters will think you're dead as well, you're immortality would be gone. If your dead, you wouldn't be immortal... if that makes any sense."

What she said was definitely confusing, but I got the gist of it, "So if Zoe and Artemis think I'm dead, I wouldn't be a hunter."

"Zoe... she is my sister, actually. But to answer your question, I would think yes."

Hold up. Did she just say that Zoe was her sister?! "Okay, but Zoe is your-"

"Mhm!" She nodded.

"Bu-"

She put a finger to her lips, "Rest now. Your bed is made. I'll wake you in the dawn."

Calypso sat upon her hammock and fell asleep at sonic speed. I didn't know that gods and goddesses slept. I clutched onto the Moonlace that she had given to me and rolled in my hammock. However, sleep did not come to me as easily. I tossed and turned for Zeus only knows how long until finally I felt my eyelids shut and I drifted off into a very quiet and peaceful slumber.


	3. I Make a Choice

_"Bianca!"_

 _"Bianca!"_

 _"BIANCA!"_

"Hello?" I called groggily. Everything was dark. I was trapped in a noiseless void. I was floating, but standing. Beneath my feet was nothing but darkness, but I was standing as though there was a floor right there. Someone had been calling to me. I thought I recognized the voice though it was too hard to tell.

"Is someone calling me?" I tried again.

 _"Bianca! Please, don't leave me. I miss you."_

This time I knew the voice. It was a voice I longed to hear since I left on my quest with my friends.

"Nico!" I shouted into the void.

 _"Please...ple-"_

His voice was replaced with cries and sobs. What else? He thought I was dead. He was somewhere else and I was only hearing part of what was happening, I had to get back to him. I needed to get back to him. He was my only family after all.

"Nico... I promise I'll come back to you. Someday..."

My dream shifted. I stood in a dark room. There were two chairs near a fireplace behind them. They were facing my way. The scary part, they were occupied. In the larger more decorated one (decorated with bones and spikes that is) sat a man with black hair that reached to his neck and a small scruff a a beard. His eyes were the darkest brown I had ever seen, they could've passed for black. He also wore a robe... a living robe in which creatures were writhing around in trying to escape. The one who sat next to him looked more peaceful. She had a gorgeous flowing white dress designed with flowers, leaves and vines. Her hair was pulled up into a huge bun which was beautiful! But her eyes, a combination of turquoise and dark blue were aching with sadness and grief. Although she sat in a throne it was obvious that she didn't want to be here.

"Bianca." The man declared with, fondness?

"Uhm. I- Uh, that's me." I stuttered out stupidly.

"Yes, I know." The man's voice boomed almost as if he was using a megaphone.

"Okay... you know me. W-Where am I? And who are you? And where's Calypso?! Am I still dreaming?!" For some reason I began to feel panicked and blurted out obvious questions that I knew the answers to.

"Slow down child, I cannot keep up with you! As for your questions; yes you are dreaming that's why you are in the Underworld at my palace, I would hop that also answers your question for who I am, and Calypso remains on Ogygia with you."

"You're... Hades." I muttered.

"Yes." He stated simply.

"So you must be, Persephone?" I cocked an eyebrow at the goddess.

She gave a dry smile and nodded.

"So, why have you, uhm, contacted me through my dreams?" I was suspicious. I didn't think it was everyday that the god of the Underworld would try and message an injured pre-teen stuck on an island.

"Ah, you see it is very tricky to contact you while you are on Ogygia so I must make this quick." His face was grim, whatever Hades needed to say, it was important, "Bianca, as you know time passes differently on Ogygia than in this world." I nodded. "It has been six months since everyone claimed your death."

My eyes widened in shock, I felt as if my brain had almost exploded. Six months!? It had only felt like a few days, weeks at the most.

"How-" I stopped myself.

"This may be a bit much to ask of you, but you must. There is no person I could choose better for this than my own daughter."

Did he just say daughter?

"I'm going to ask you to continue playing dead."

"Excuse me?" I shrieked.

"I know, this is a lot to take in, I can explain more later. You will be able to leave Ogygia at dawn. Tell the raft to take you to the _Dead Sea._ There I will be able to elaborate."

Hades was fizzling away. I had many questions, so I had no choice. When the raft would come, I'd have to take my chances dealing with Hades. Maybe talking to him I could convince the gods to free Calypso!

Even with all of this there were still other things I needed to deal with. He had called me his daughter. That meant that my godly parent was Hades. Things just got complicated. And there was that six month thing... No. These were problems that I'd have to deal with one at a time. One at a time when I'd confront Hades.

...

"Bianca! Hurry you must awake!"

I opened my eyes to see a worried Calypso kneeling in front of me face, "What is it?" I yawned.

"Your raft! It is here! You must take this opportunity to leave!" She screeched hastily.

The raft? "Oh my gods!" I practically toppled out of my hammock nearly smashing Calypso.

"Come on, Bianca!" She grabbed my hand and sprinted down the bay.

I saw it. This... raft thing did not look impressive. It was bobbing up and down in the water made up of jagged wooden logs and something like vine or seaweed tying them together.

"What are you waiting for! Get on!" Calypso urged.

"Can't you come with me?" I persisted.

Calypso shook her head, "Just go, you needn't be trapped here with me while your friends await your return."

I scowled, "It isn't fair. I promise that I will talk to the gods. I'll convince them to set you free.

Calypso just smiled, "You are like a sister to me, Bianca. All I ask is that you remember me and I will be happy."

"I- I promise." I tried to ignore the crack in my voice as I was on the verge of tears, "I won't forget."

Calypso and I embraced and I inhaled the sweet scent of cinnamon and flowers, "Thank you."

I felt a warm liquid slide down my cheek. I was crying. "Goodbye." She said.

I sat aboard the raft. I thought of Nico, Thalia, Grover, Zoe, and Percy. I thought about Annabeth, the one who I "died" trying to save. I thought about how peaceful of a life I could lead with my younger brother in the safety of Camp Half-Blood. It was all that I had ever longed for. Friends. A home. Family. Then, what of it if I ignored Hades's request. My father's. I feared the consequences wouldn't be that nice.

I made up my mind.

"Take me to the Dead Sea."

.

.

.

.

.

 **Author's Note!**

 **This was a bit of a shorter chapter. I apologize for that! I'll continue posting every two- three days unless something happens. But I'll expect to update at least once a week. Thank you! :)**


	4. I Become Friends with a Ghost

The boat drifted for I don't know how long. I wasn't tired at all from the sleep that I had gotten on Ogygia so that meant I couldn't fall back asleep. And what's worse is that I was kind of getting sea sick. Plus the sea made me think of Percy Jackson and thinking about Percy Jackson made me think about the quest that I abandoned, and thinking about that made me hate myself for leaving Nico. Gods, I missed him already. In a short span of a few days my life had been flipped around. First I learned that I was a demigod and was told that I should become a Hunter, which I did. Then I was told that I had been staying in some wacko hotel that kept my brother and I prisoner there for years! And finally I learned that I was "dead" to all of my friends and I was no longer a Hunter, adding to that I had also been away for six months.

I gripped onto the Moonlace that Caly had given to me. That's what I was going to called Calypso. I would get her off that island. I had to repay her the debts that I owed her for all the kindness she had shown me.

I was so lost in thought I hadn't noticed the approaching land until it was too late. The raft rammed into the shoreline and lurched me forward at an alarming speed. I landed face first onto the sand. "OW!" I squeaked.

I coughed up some of the sand I had unwillingly swallowed. "Hello? Uh... Hades?" I glanced around. Was this really the Dead Sea? It certainly didn't look like a Sea.

I stood up brushing the sand off of my white dress. Wait... dress? When did that happen? I was still wearing my jacket and green cap, but instead of a shirt, I had a cute white dress on that went down to my knees. Around my waist was a black belt. I was wearing my black leggings which were torn in several places and my brown combat boots. _What an outfit._ I began walking around and investigating this new island that I had stumbled upon. It certainly wasn't anywhere near the Dead Sea. When I glanced into the water there were many fish and plant life thriving around the sand. Where was I?

"Is there anyone here or am I alone?" I mumbled to myself.

I looked around for something to perhaps start a fire with. It was getting pretty late and my stomach was doing impressions of a whale. I carefully stepped towards the trees spotting some twigs and leaves at the base. I collected them into my arms and carried them over to wear my flower was sitting. It was glowing so brightly I could see almost an entire circled around it. I dropped the kindling near it realizing that I had no idea how to make a fire.

"Let's see... uh... do you... no. Wait...shoot." I whispered to myself as I immediately began to rub two sticks together in hopes of getting a spark.

 _This isn't how to make a fire, Bianca._ I shook my head. A hole? Rocks? Isn't that what people in those survival shows did? It was my best bet. I started by digging a hole about the size of a pig. It took a while as the sand kept flowing back into the miniature pit. I used the Moonlace as a sort of flashlight and navigated my way into finding a couple rocks. I lined the pit as best as I could and then I through in the kindling. I banged to stones together. Rubbed them to together. Tried everything until finally. The flames began.

"OH MY GODS!" I screamed a little too loud. "I did it!"

I was satisfied with my lovely flames until... there was the sound of an earthquake. Which it just happened to be my stomach. There had to be something to eat on this island. I left the warmth and safety of the fire to search for some berries or something. Nothing. _PLOP!_ I whirled around shining my Moonlace at whatever the noise was. Instead of seeing an enemy, I saw a coconut lying on the sand. I raised my glow flower up and looked at the trees. They were full of coconuts, bananas, dragon fruit, pomegranates, and other fruits that I didn't know. I hastily made my way to the fruits trees shaking them, pounding on them, and even attempting to climb them, but sadly... to no avail. I was frustrated, tired, and hungry. I let out a defeated screech. That lead to a white blob zooming past me and knocking down all of the fruit.

"Wha..?" I was too stunned.

The white speck was then right in front of my face, and I realized that it was in fact, a transparent puppy.

"Huh?!"

"Woof." was the only thing the ghost puppy said.

"Uhm, hello. T-Thanks for the help, I mean I am truly thankful, but what are you.. and how did you get here!?" I asked.

"Woof. Woof. Woof." Ghost dog said.

"Alright. Look at me. Crazy girl, talking to a ghost dog."

The puppy cocked its head. It was kind of cute.

"Okay fine. You can stay with me as long as you behave."

The dog barked.

"Do you have a name?" I checked for a tag. No tag.

"Okay. I guess I'll call you..." I thought for a moment. "Mytho!" I named him after my little brother's favorite game, Mytho Magic.

Mytho just barked. It left me to wondering how he came to me. _Another question for my dad I guess_.

I gathered up all of the fruit and sat by the fire. Eating. I was curious and I put my hand onto Mytho, to my surprise it didn't pass through. I scratched behind his ears which he really enjoyed. And slowly I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	5. Latin People Still Worship Gods

I awoke to the sound of... was that barking? I sat up groggily, the fire was completely turned to ash and there was just enough from the horizon to see the entirety of the island. My eyes scanned the area in which the barking was coming from. There was... a transparent dog? That's when I remembered the previous night. Mytho. But what was he barking at? My eyes trailed over his line of sight. Standing a good distance away from Mytho was a figure. Definitely a human shape. I stood up realizing that I had no weapons to defend myself with. Just a ghost dog. The figure began moving towards us. Mytho growled and yipped. Although his size wasn't the most intimidating thing.

Upon further inspection I made out that the figure was a girl. She had dirty blonde hair pulled into a messy side braid. She wore a plate of armor and a pair of denim jeans. Her boots were pulled up to her knees and a battleaxe was drawn at her side.

"An tu in hanc insulam intrusore. Hic status tua." She hissed at me.

"Sorry?" I thought I miss heard her. Maybe she was friendly? Mytho backed up towards me, but continued growling.

"Non dicere possim. Si vos non intellegitis, quia omne bonum venisti." She growled.

"Uhm, I'm sorry I guess I don't understand you. Uh, but I swear I mean you no harm." I tried.

I guess she didn't like what I had to say, she took out her ax and swung it down on me hard. I scrambled out of the way just in time. Mytho was not so lucky.

"MYTHO!" I screamed. The ax went down. But to my great surprise, Mytho was alive. He shifted around a bit, then flew towards me.

Relief flooded through me, but it didn't last for long. She tore her ax out of the ground and started towards us again. If only I had a bow and arrow. Even a sword would do! I just needed something. I must've looked pretty pathetic too. With my weird outfit, which was now covered in dirt and leaves and my hair was all knotty and gross. When was the last time I had a shower?

She struck another blow and I dodged. She might've been powerful, but I was quick. Plus, I wasn't carrying anything. Maybe if I could figure out what language she was speaking. It did sound kind of like Italian. If I tried to speak that, would she listen? There wasn't really anything else I could try. And if she hit me once with that ax, I was done for.

"Si prega, fermare questo! Non voglio combattere con te!" I yelled.

She hesitated before smacking her ax on me this time.

"Non alienus?" She raised an eyebrow.

Did she just call me an alien?

"Uh, io non sono un alieno." I tried.

The girl grinned at me, "Cosi si parla italiano, allora! Mi dispiace molto per questo, non pensavo ch tu fossi una buona notizia. Dal momento che non e stato parlare latino e tutti." She explained.

 ***Okay, from this point forward when they speak to each other it's Italian, but I'm going to write it in English for you!***

"Oh, that's fine. I guess I'd be a little shocked if I came upon a non native speaker with a ghost dog on my island too!" I laughed.

The girl gave a chuckle, "Ah, where are my manners?! My name is Evanna. Evanna Cachi, it is a pleasure to meet you." She stretched out a hand. Her voice was low and strong, but she gave the appearance of a maybe 14 year old girl?

I took her hand, "I'm Bianca di Angelo! You're very good with that ax of yours!"

"Mhm! I have been trained to fight since a very young age. That's how it's taught in my tribe." She said casually. Her eyes were the color of amber, she was very pretty and very muscular as I could tell.

"So, are you out here alone?" I asked.

"No. I was traveling with some friends. Just to explore the island. I noticed some smoke and I thought I should check it out. I got ahead of the others, but they should be coming around any minute." She turned toward where she came from, "But that's is my question to you. What brings you out here all by your lonesome?"

I shifted on my feet. If I told her the truth she might think I'm insane, but Evanna seemed like a trustworthy person...

"Well, I was trying to get to the Dead Sea to.. to meet my father, Hades."

Evanna's friendly expression dropped, but it wasn't anger it was replaced with, it was... shock? "You- You're. Oh my gods! You're a demigod!" she exclaimed.

My turn to be shocked. "You don't think I'm crazy?"

Evanna's face filled with joy and surprise, "Well of course not, Bianca! My tribe, we worship the gods! Even though it seems like all of humanity has moved onto Christianity and Islam and all those other religions. My people have stayed to worship the gods. Although, you did say Hades? Do you mean Pluto?"

I frowned, "No. I'm pretty sure it's Hades, Greek God of the Underworld."

Evanna smiled again, "Greek. My people worship the Roman gods a bit more than the Greek, but I am sure they will welcome any demigod into our village for a while."

"Really?" I asked. "That would be nice... I mean if you guys don't mind!"

"Evanna?!" I heard a high pitched voice call.

We both turned.

There was a girl wearing the same thing as Evanna, yelling in... Latin I assumed. She had chocolate brown hair pulled into a high pony tail and stunning sapphire blue eyes. Behind her was a concerned looking boy. He was quite small. He had the same dirty blond hair as Evanna, but his eyes were more of a blue-green color.

Evanna began speaking in Latin to her comrades. Occasionally, she would make a gesture at me and the other two would look towards me. I felt something on my shoulder and realized that Mytho must've been sitting there the whole time. Unless he just decided to sit there, but I didn't mind. I turned back towards the group.

The one with brown hair opened her mouth, "It's good to meet you, Bianca. I'm Sara and this is West." She jabbed her thumb towards the small boy. "You're gonna come with us to get yourself cleaned up, all right? Then you can explain."

I nodded.

"You're dog gets to come too!" West added.

I smiled at him, "Thanks!"

Evanna grabbed my arm, "Well we better get going!"

And with that, we made our way to their town.


	6. Nice Hotel?

We walked in a comfortable silence for a while. Listening to the wind flowing through the trees. Listening to our feet step on each leaf and twig. It was very relaxing. Then, Mytho started barking again.

"Mytho!" I complained.

He leaped off of my shoulder and raced ahead.

"Wha!?" I barely yelled before I darted after him.

Evanna, Sara, and West were right behind me. I could barely see my dog as he was going at such a fast pace and he was also almost invisible.

"Mytho! Stop!" I tried. It didn't work. He was still going full blast. Why was he running?!

I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings which turned out to be a very bad idea. It meant that I hadn't noticed the log that was a few feet ahead of me and unlike my puppy who could go through things, I was completely solid.

 _THWACK!_ That was the sound of my foot slamming into the log. I stumbled down and rolled a couple feet over.

I was out of breath and panting and now I had a very sharp pain in my foot.

"Bianca! Bianca, are you alright?" Evanna was looking down on me with concern.

"Y-Yeah..." I panted. "My..Mytho."

"We'll find him later, you need some medical attention for that ankle." Sara said.

"No, it's fine." I argued, but as soon as I tried to stand up, a jolt of pain went through my entire leg, "Ahh!" I fell... again.

"Yup, definitely fine." Evanna said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes, but allowed myself to put half of my weight onto Evanna and we carefully made our way to their town.

...

I must say their town was amazing. There weren't any cars or anything, but it was pretty big. There were people with tents set up all along the main road. There were little Inns, like hotels kind of, but I didn't know why they were there as Evanna attacked me as soon as I spoke a different language. The houses looked like small cabins, but... nicer. There were gardens dotting every street corner, it reminded me of Caly. People were riding horses and horse-drawn carriages down the streets. We passed the stables where some beautiful horses were kept, _I especially like the pure black midnight colored one!_ We maneuvered our way through all of the hustling and bustling and finally stopping at one of the tent looking things that I had seen before. It was made of sticks and leatherish material. It appeared to me as if there was a rubber band holding everything together at the top, but I was sure that wasn't what it was called. I noticed steam or smoke coming out of the spout where the rubber band looking thing was.

"This is where Lady Altha lives." Sara smiled.

"Lady Altha?"

"She can heal almost anything!" West grinned.

"Really?" I wasn't buying it.

"Not anything, but she'll be able to fix your ankle in no time!" Evanna added.

We stepped through the curtains to reveal an older lady wearing a black cloak. Underneath that she had a yellow gown reaching down to her feet. To me the colors kind of clashed.

"Lady Altha." Sara called.

Altha seemed to be busy with some type of potion thing at the little table at the center of the room. As a checked the place out, there were shelves at every angle, filled to the brim with different ingredients that I did not know.

"Lady Altha!" Sara tried again. This time, Altha looked up.

"Tantum a momento, carissimi. Ego mixta fere remedium hekonoitis!"

The lady spoke in Latin, I didn't know what she said so I looked at Evanna.

"It's a disease that involves lots of vomiting and swelling of the tongue." She said nervously. I decided not to ask.

"Amicus noster debilitatum talum frangerentur. Nos postulo tui scientia." Sara explained although I didn't know what she said.

Lady Altha looked up at me this time. Sara and Lady Altha exchanged a few more things in Latin and then Lady Altha spoke to me, but not in Italian.

"I thought there was something about your scent. Fear not child you've come to a fine place to rest up. This towns smell should keep you hidden from the monsters. But for now, we have that ankle of yours to look at."

Evanna, Sara, and West stared at me in confusion.

"Thank you so much!" I responded back in whatever language she had spoken to me in. That's when I realized it had to have been ancient Greek.

Lady Altha patted a spot on a table next to her. I propped myself up and allowed her to examine it.

"It is certainly broken, but I'm sure if you eat this, it will be healed before sundown."

She handed me an ambrosia square... was that what Caly called it? And I gladly ate it while she wrapped my ankle.

The trio was still staring at us in utter confusion.

"Are you guys alright?" I switched to Italian.

"Do you understand what she's saying?!" Evanna asked.

"Yeah, she's speaking ancient Greek!" I replied calmly.

"And you know Ancient Greek." Sara raised and eyebrow.

"Well, I guess." I wavered.

"That's awesome!" West commented.

I grinned at him and noticed that the pain in my ankle was subsiding.

"Bianca, it would best of you would just rest for the rest of the day. Unless you have somewhere you need to be." Lady Altha said.

I had completely forgotten about my dad.

"Oh my gods! I have to go to the Dead Sea! I was supposed to meet my father! I-" I was cut off by Lady Altha.

"It's alright. I'm sure he understands. You must rest for now. We'll make sure you have all that you need to make your journey."

I smiled, "Thank you. I really am grateful for all that you're doing for me. I'll repay you someday. I swear."

Lady Altha nodded, "For now, you can rest in one of the Inns. You three will take her to the very best one I presume."

The three saluted and grabbed my arms again. And we were off.

...

We stopped at a nice looking building. It was made of stone and was quite tall. I saw windows, but the curtains remained closed. As we entered, the Inn keeper looked at us quizzically. He and Sara spoke Latin to each other and eventually we got a key.

I was led up a flight of stairs and we turned down one hall. We opened the door to room 12. It was nice. It had one twin bed with beige covers. The pillows were more like a chocolate brown. And they walls were a golden caramel. It was really pretty.

"Nice room!" Sara commented.

"I think this is nicer than my entire house!" Evanna joked.

"Look at that!" West pointed to a chandelier swinging in the middle of the room. It reminded me of... what did it remind me of?

"Whoa look! You have food in here too!" Evanna said holding a sandwich. I glanced over her and saw the plate of possible peanut butter sandwiches?

All three of them hustled around the room, pointing stuff out and making me really just want to stay in the small village. I knew I couldn't though, even if I wanted to. Above all else, I realized I wanted Mytho back. Even if he had only been there for a night and a half. I missed him. I missed his presence. I sat on the bed exhausted.

All of the sudden Sara spoke up, "Oh my gods! Bianca, we're so sorry! We completely forgot that you have to rest!"

Evanna and West became very interested in the carpet, which made me laugh, "It's fine really. I just need to close my eyes for a minute."

Slowly the trio shuffled out of my room, closing the door behind them and all I could think was, _all of these strangers are being so nice to me when they don't even know me. Without them I'd be dead._

I shut my eyes ready for a nap. I had to be prepared. Maybe they were helping me now, but what about in the future? Soon, my eyelids were shut and I drifted off into the peaceful world of sleep.


	7. Demon People want to Kill me

_"Bianca, you **must** reach the Dead Sea by dusk tomorrow!" _My father's voice boomed. I couldn't say anything. My dream shifted to where I was in... a town? Everything was falling apart. It was like one of those post-apocalyptic type cities you see in the movies. Another thing about the town, other than the moldy broken down buildings, was the color. Everything was black, grey, and white.

 _"She can stop us. If we're not careful."_ An old woman's voice came from... somewhere?

 _"She's just a little girl! She couldn't do anything, even if she wanted to. Besides we could kill her at an moment!"_ A man's voice echoed throughout the city.

 _"You underestimate the girl's abilities, Itzal. She is a daughter of Hades. Those children are dangerous. Especially this one."_ Were they talking about me?

 _"So you're saying we must eliminate her. Before she can... interfere."_ Itzal stated.

 _"Precisely. Send... the beasts after her."_ Old Lady ordered.

 _"The beasts!?"_ Itzal sounded shocked, " _Waste them on a little girl?"_

 _"It will not be a waste. Trust me."_ That was all I heard before my dream shifted once more.

This time I was, really I had no idea. There was a river and... was that?

 _"Nico?!"_ I tried to call, but to no avail.

"Useless." He mumbled.

My little brother was sitting in front of a fire across a river, tossing figures and cards from his Mytho-Magic game into the flames. _I spent a lot of money on those, you dote!_

"I can't believe I ever liked this stuff."

"A childish game, master." An older voice agreed. _Perfect. Just what I had hoped! The weird invisible people were talking to my brother._

Nico turned his head so he was staring right at me, however, I knew he couldn't see or hear me.

"I've failed," He murmured. "There's no way to get her back."

Get her back? Oh boy.

The demon decided not to respond.

"Is there? Speak." He ordered, all high and mighty. Like he was a king or something. Then again, the demon was also referring to him as, master.

I noticed a shadowy and jagged figure appear straight out of the flames. It was misty almost invisible, definitely confirmed my suspicions of a demon.

"It has never been done, but there may be a way." The demon persuaded.

"Tell me," Nico demanded, a fire in his eyes.

He wasn't being serious, right? Besides, how are you supposed to bring back someone who isn't dead? But then again, he didn't know that. He wasn't even at camp Half-Blood either. Where in the world was he? I glanced around, the place looked gloomy and dark. What happened to my little fratello?

"An exchange," The demon said, "A soul for a soul."

Uh oh.

"I've offered!" My brother yelled.

"Not yours," Demon said something smart finally. "You cannot offer your father a soul that he will eventually collect anyway. Nor will he be anxious for the death of his son. I mean a soul that should have died already. Someone who has cheated death."

"Not that again. You're talking about murder." Nico spat distastefully.

 _Please don't murder anyone, Nico._

I knew it was my fault. My brother had teamed up with a demon to bring me back. I wasn't even dead, but now I couldn't go back. Not yet anyway.

"I'm talking about justice! Vengeance!" The demon argued.

"Those are not the same thing." Nico countered.

The demon gave a wry laugh. "You will learn differently as you get older."

He was corrupting my brother. I felt my blood boiling. Whoever this shadow demon was, if he didn't back off and stay away from Nico, he was going to get a sound beating when I saw him next.

"Why can't I at least summon her? I want to talk to her. She would...she would help me."

That was an excellent idea. Maybe I couldn't tell him that I was dead, but at least maybe then I could put him back on the right path.

The demon was saying something, but as soon as I tried to tune in to listen, my eyes darted open.

.

"Bianca! Bianca wake up!" Sara was shaking the living daylights out of me.

"Mmmm." I moaned.

"Oh come on! Give me a break! You have to get up right now!" She sounded worried.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Uh... Cyclops. Like five, I think. They must've smelled you." She was digging around in a black pack.

"Cyclops." I made sure I has heard her right.

Sara nodded, "They're heading towards the village, so you need to get out.

"What?"

Sara zipped up the pack and handed it to me, "Provisions, supplies, knives, tools, food, water, and some medicine and ambrosia from Lady Altha."

I grabbed it reluctantly, "Are you sure you want me to take this?"

Sara heaved a long sigh, "Just come on!"

She took my wrist and led me out of the Inn. We zigzagged through the streets. I won't even bother going into detail with the man who was carrying loads of spears that we bumped into, he almost impaled us after that. We finally arrived at the stables.

"Jeeza! Where in Jupiter's daylight have you two been?" Evanna scolded.

"Bianca is a heavy sleeper." Sara explained. Thanks.

"Can you ride a horse?" Evanna patted the beautiful black horse that I had seen at the stables the previous day, "This is Umbra, the fastest horse we've got. She'll be able to get you out of here in no time!"

I was in awe. Umbra's coat was the darkest shade of black I had ever seen. Her mane was in a perfect swoop bent over her eyes, which were a deep chocolate color. Her mane was a black even darker than the coat. The color of the void.

"I-I can't. I won't just leave you guys to fight the cyclops. I'm the one who brought them here. I need to stay." I wouldn't run away.

Evanna sighed, "Bianca, have you seen me fight?" She grinned, "I could kick your ass. I'm pretty sure I can kick some monster asses too."

She made a valid point. Besides, if I tested her any further, she might have actually beaten me up.

"Fair reason." I smiled.

"Good, now come on." Sara and Evanna both shoved me onto the horse's back.

"Just slap her with the reins when you're ready!" Sara described with a hand gesture.

I giggled.

"Here." Evanna handed me a silver bow with a quiver full of arrows, "I don't know if you know how to use it, but..."

"Thank you!" I beamed, strapping the quiver on and stretching the bow around me. It was the only weapon I knew how to use.

"Okay, now you're official!" Evanna laughed.

"Good luck." Sara whispered.

I nodded, taking the reins into my fists. I was ready. I heard a monstrous roar from the far end of the city. That was my cue. I smacked the reins, and Umbra took off. With that, I left behind the kind strangers who showed a daughter of Hades, mercy.


	8. Grain Grain Go away

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" I screamed.

Umbra was not going at a very slow pace. They said that she was fast, but this was on a whole other level.

"Oh, look out! Branch! Ow!" I continued.

Riding through trees on horseback was not fun. At all. They told me to whip the reins to go, but nobody ever told me how to make her stop. There were trees surrounding us. We were probably riding through the woods. From what I could see through holes in the canopy was that the sun was about at high noon. I really wished I had a watch. My father said that I had to be there by dusk. I didn't even know where I was going.

"NEEIGHH" Umbra halted, almost throwing me off.

"Why did you stop?" I complained.

Umbra huffed at me and scuffed her hoof in the dirt, staring straight ahead. I finally got the nerves to take a peek.

"What in Zeus's name?"

Ahead of us the wood ended. There was a vast plain. It could've been made up of... wheat? Wheat wasn't supposed to move though, right?

"Sorghum!"

"Wha?!" A piece of wheat was talking to me. I was going insane.

"Barley! Barley!" Another spoke.

What were they? Pokemon? They were just repeating the type of grain they were. At least that's what I assumed. There were quite a bit of them heading towards Umbra and I and I had a feeling that they wouldn't be friendly.

"Uhm.. uh. We should probably go..." I snapped the reins, but Umbra wouldn't move.

Her hooves were being held down by pieces of wheat. Uh oh. The herd of grains was approaching at a very speedy pace, until we were being carried through the air at an alarming rate.

Why must this happen?

There had to be something I could do. I scanned the moving terrain. That didn't help much. I couldn't reach for my bow, but maybe... there was something I could try. I focused and poured all the energy I had into my palm. I concentrated, until finally, I felt a twist in my gut. The grains stopped moving, and I noticed the hoard of skeletons carrying swords surrounding us. Were they from me?

The skeleton army cut down the grains. They screamed and eventually they were all scattered about, whether they had been slashed or if they had run off.

I stared at all of the skeletons, they stared back at me, "Uhm. Thank you, but I... uhm. I don't need your assistance at the moment. So... uh."

They seemed to get the message. The ground split from under them and they disappeared into the crevices. I was alone, again.

"Umbra?" I beckoned.

There was no neigh. I had lost the fastest horse ever. Shoot. I clutched onto the bag, at least I had some things. The sun was still at a high point, so I could still make it to the Dead Sea. Although, I had no idea where I was or which direction to head.

I sighed, siting down. I spilled out the contents of the pack. Two knives, matches, three water bottles, bags of chips and apples, medicines I couldn't read the names of, and some ambrosia. Sweet.

I drank some water and ate an apple, regaining some of my strength from my sudden outburst of energy. It wore me out. I had to continue on my mission though. I just wished I knew where to go.

"Come on, Dad. Give me a sign. Something to know where to go." I prayed.

There wasn't a response. Of course, I wasn't expecting one.

"Woof."

I whirled around, "Mytho?"

"Woof, woof!" He started off in a different direction.

"Wait, you want me to follow you?"

"Woof!"

I packed up all the supplies and slung the bag around my shoulder. I was following a ghost puppy across a plain. I definitely wasn't insane.

Mytho was a bit faster than I had anticipated. After nearly slicing my head off to branches and sharp stones, narrowly missing falling into deep holes, and sinking in some quick sand, Mytho came to a stop near a... a sea. By the time we reached it, the sun was beginning to go down in the other direction. My guess, I only had a few hours to get to my dad before dusk.

How was I supposed to get across a sea? Did Poseidon even like kids of Hades?

"How do I get across?" I mumbled to myself.

Mytho was wagging his tail, then he barked. It was annoying, I was trying to concentrate. His barking became incessant, I glared in his direction. That shut him up pretty quick.

Barking. Bark... oh!

"Mytho, that's perfect!" I laughed. My crafty skills weren't the best, but I could probably build a raft. If I could find wood, and if I could... alright maybe it wouldn't work.

I was stumped. I had no idea how to get across the sea.

 _Yes you do._

"Huh?!" I knew I had heard a voice.

 _You're a demigod._

"Who? Who's talking to me? Where are you?"

I spun around wildly searching for the source of the mysterious voice. It was the voice of a child. But no one seemed to be there.

"I'm insane." I decided.

The ghost voice said that I knew how to get to the other side, well ghost voice was wrong. I was confused, I didn't have a plan, and for some reason I had to pretend that I was dead. Fantastic.

"Ghost voice, if you have a plan. Just tell me."

 _Use the shadows to your advantage, Bianca._

"Use the shadows?" Nice advice.

But sadly, it was the only advice I had. Use the shadows.

"How exactly?"

 _You know._

News flash, ghost voice, you're wrong. I don't know.

I turned towards the shadows from a tree. _If I could do the thing I did earlier..._ I thought.

There was a twist in my gut and everything went black. It was cold and dark. There was nothing. But, the Dead Sea. I had to get there.

All of the sudden, there was light again. My stomach felt a little queezy, and I was dizzy, but I was in a totally new area. A circle of mountains surrounded a sea. There were people. Lots of people milling around the shore. I felt a little out of character, especially since my outfit was so dirty. I probably smelled too. I didn't want to be gross. I sneaked around the people until I was facing another mountain. Where was I?

"Mytho?" I whisper yelled. Where did he go?

I was confused. Again. Maybe someone would tell me where I was. I scanned the crowd looking for someone who might look nice.

"Uhm, excuse me." I asked kindly to a middle aged woman.

"Oh, yes dear?" She smiled down at me.

"I'm a little lost, could you tell me where I am?"

"Oh, this is the Dead Sea, did you need some help finding your parents?"

I shook my head, "No thanks, I think I know where to look from here. Thank you!"

The lady nodded and walked off. I had made it. I was in the Dead Sea. Why would my father want to meet here of all places? I didn't know where to look, and ghost voice had seemed to quiet down, so I just strolled across he beach. That is, until a figure grabbed me.

I let out a yelp, that attracted some attention. I guess people thought it was a kidnapping, which it sort of was.

People began to reach out for my attacker, but they gained no avail. I tried to turn around to see who had grabbed me, but they were covered pretty well. Eventually, the bystanders had retreated. It's like they had completely forgotten what had happened.

"Bianca, so good to see you again." A familiar voice boomed. I knew that voice, it was the voice of my father.


	9. My Dad Gives me a Quest

"Why couldn't you have just... I don't know. Said hi?" I scolded my father for scaring the Hades out of me.

"I'm new at this, besides, I didn't want anyone to be able to see or hear us so."

"Wait, no one can hear or see us right now?"

"Not at all. It should be safe for this conversation."

"Okay." I agreed reluctantly.

"Come this way. The less people, the better." He gestured for me to follow.

"But I thought you said-"

"Yes, but we're still solid objects. They can run into us." He reasoned.

Great. They wouldn't even know that we were there. They'd run into us and think we were a ghost or something. That'd be kind of scary.

He led me through the crowds of people until reaching a secluded area in between some of the mountainish stones that surrounded the sea. What was I doing here?

My father sighed, "You wish you were normal, I understand. You could have had a normal life in the 1930s. With your mother and your brother."

I stared down at my feet.

"It's alright, Bianca. I would want nothing more for you, but us gods. We rely on our children, you demigods. Without you, we're nothing really."

"How can a god be nothing compared to a mere half-blood." I scoffed.

My father shook his head, "You'll understand someday. But in the meantime. You want to speak with your brother."

That got my full attention. I shot my head up to look directly at him, "How do you mean? You said I was supposed to play dead." I growled.

"Well, you are. Now I understand that you'll want to say other things. But you must say exactly what I tell you to."

What did he mean he understood. He couldn't have! I wanted nothing more than to go back to my fratellino, but this god, my father, was completely preventing me from doing so!

"You can't!" I screamed. "You can't possibly understand! You hate your brothers and envy them for what you don't have! I love my little brother, he's all I have! Why couldn't you just stay out of it! I want to go home!"

I was angry. At my father. At the gods. But more importantly, myself. I could've made the decision to go back to Long Island, but I didn't. And my brother, burning cards in a flame. That was my fault. It had to be. I had only myself to blame.

"Bianca. Your quest that I give you today will determine the fate of Camp Half-blood. You just have to trust me."

"And if I refuse and go home." I argued.

"You cannot. You see, the way things are, you were supposed to die. You cheated death. If you were to return to Camp, it would throw off the course of the entire future. Things that your brother will do, will majorly affect the future. If you are there, I cannot say that he'll complete those tasks."

I was stunned. Would my not being there really affect Camp that much. And not just the camp, perhaps the entire world.

"I see." I mumbled.

"I am truly sorry, Bianca." Hades sounded genuine.

"Well then. Should we get on with what I am supposed to do?" I asked.

"Your quest is a difficult one. One that will have many twists and turns. It will lead you across the world and back. You will need to prepare for it. So, I'll ask you this. Can you do it?"

"I believe I can." I tried to sound confident. What was he about to ask me to do?"

"My daughter, you alone must find and destroy, the shadow of Tartarus."

What.

"Excuse me?" I was too confused.

"Not many even know of its existence. It is a blessing that it has not managed to escape yet. The shadow of Tartarus is a being of grave power. In one touch it can drive even a god insane. It is as dark and as black as a void because in reality, it is the void. It takes in, but never spits out. It is a creature of pure insanity. And now, it has found a way to escape its bonds in the shadow realm where it is hidden. And it will not stop until the entire Earth had been absorbed in its presence. And you alone, Bianca, you can stop it. With all of its darkness, you will be able to stop it."

I was in complete shock. I couldn't move. My father just basically said that I needed to destroy the void. How are you supposed to react to that? _Fun! Sounds like a blast, anyone want to come and join me for a trip into the void!_ How were even supposed to destroy something that literally could not be destroyed. And did they say that they detained it? In what?

"W-What's the shadow realm." I asked very meekly.

"It is the place where no one goes. It is the final realm beneath Tartarus. Being there is a madhouse. Years in that world could only be one second in this. It slowly drives one to insanity. The Shadow Realm is apart of the shadow's body."

"So you have the void detained... in the void?" I tried.

"Correct." He said.

"And I'm supposed to do what exactly?"

"You must find a way to enter the Shadow Realm, and you must find the void and destroy it."

"How?"

"You have much training to do before you can take on a task such as this, but do not fret. The shadow shall not be able to rise for at least another three years."

"Train?" I asked.

"Lots of it." Hades agreed.

"How long?"

"Years."

"You really think I could do it?" I still wasn't confident.

"I do."

I sighed, "When do I start?"

"About a week, until then, you must speak with your brother."

I nodded. These were going to be long years. What had my life become?


	10. A Rough Night

A battle ax was not for me. A sword, maybe. I could use a dagger, but it's a dagger, not really meant to be fought with. I was still pretty good with a bow and arrow. At least that's what my trainer, Mattie, said.

Since my father couldn't assist me personally, you know, Underworld business, he got me one of the best warriors he had to train me. Mind you this warrior was in fact, dead.

"No, Bianca! One swing left, one swing right, turn, clash, draw, down." Mattie said calmly.

I was panting. We had been at this everyday for about two months. I had most of it down, but the sword just didn't feel balanced in my hands. Mattie had told me that we would find the right sword when I was good enough. Apparently I still wasn't.

I attempted the battle pattern again. I failed.

Again. Wrong. Another try! Finally.

I heaved a sigh of relief as I fell onto the sandy shore of the riverside. Mountains rose up all around us, we were blocked from mortals' eyes.

"Ya really are getting there. I'd say in another two months, you'll be one fantastic swords-woman!" Mattie grinned.

"Haa... Thanks.." I breathed.

"Need some water then I suppose." He tossed me a canteen.

I sat up so I had my legs out in front of me with my knees bent. I rested my arms around them, after catching the canteen.

I chugged down the water until the canteen was barren.

"Guess you were thirsty." Mattie laughed.

I rolled my eyes, "Well, while you just sat there, I was having an all out battle with air."

Mattie shook his head, "That's because I already know how to fight with a sword."

I took that as a chance to argue, "But you're probably a little rusty, you know. Sine you've been dead for so long!"

That got him, "Are you challenging me, Bianca?"

"I don't know, maybe I am." I joked.

Mattie picked up a sword from the pile of weapons that we had been using, "You really wanna test it?" He smirked.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy one you!" I smiled.

He came at me full swing, I side stepped, dodging his attack. But he probably had already anticipated that, so I quickly ducked under, attempting to knock him off of his feet. That didn't work. He leaped over me, and without a moment of hesitation, spun on his heels and pointed his sword at my neck.

"Game." He gave a sly smile.

But I had other plans. I brought my feet up and kicked his kneecap, he cried out in agony before collapsing onto the ground, dropping his sword. I brought mine to the back of his neck.

"Game!" I giggled.

"Ah. That really hurt. Maybe I am out of practice." He stood up brushing off his chest. "Or maybe, you're just getting better."

"Hey, I beat you! That's gotta count for something." I argued.

"Of course it counts for something! More training!" Mattie playfully punched my in the arm.

"Wow, what a reward." I said, the sarcasm dripping off every word.

And so continued our free for all, without any more lucky hits from me.

Darkness began to approach through the peaks of the mountain tops. Almost time to catch some Zs, but then continue Hell the next day.

"Ready to hit the hay then, I suppose?" Mattie cocked an eyebrow.

I was breathing too hard to get any words out, so I just gave him the best glare I could muster.

"Alright, fine." He waved both hands in the air in a surrendering position. I hated him.

"Asshole..." I finally croaked under my breath.

A few minutes later I was on my back lying on my temporary bed (a sleeping bag) staring into the pitch black sky. No stars appeared that night, so I gazed into the darkness, unblinkingly, until my eyes couldn't stand it.

"AAARRRHH" I let out a scream of frustration. Was it really so wrong that I wanted to go back to my brother? My poor little brother whose happiness had been taken from him. The reason being myself?

I thought back to the night where I was face to face with him. Free to tell him anything and everything I wanted him to know. But I hadn't. Instead I had told him exactly what my father had ordered me to tell him. His eyes were so broken, so full of pain and anger, but mostly... sadness. An overwhelming sadness that no one should feel. A sadness, that was all my fault.

I felt the tears sliding down my cheeks once more. Every night, I thought I would somehow leave and just go and find him. But what chance did I have. Facing a world of monsters and having not a clue where to go. I stumbled upon my father merely by accident. What good was I-

 _CRASH!_

I jolted up right. My head snapped in the direction where the loud noise had come from. "Mattie?" I called.

There was no response. Mattie might have been dead but to train me, my dad had given him a solid figure. If he was still awake, then he might have been the source of the loud bang.

However, there was no response. And again everything was still and silent. All you could hear was the soft breeze gliding through the trees and the crickets chirping a lovely song.

I tensed. Slowly rising up from my sleeping bag, drawing my sword.

I didn't say a word, nor did I make a sound. I stayed as quiet as possible. _Was this a test? Was Mattie trying to pull something?_

A twig snapped from somewhere in the distance, though it had felt like it had come from everywhere. What was happening?

I crept forward just a little bit, glancing in every direction. _Was there a monster?_

That wouldn't be possible though. There was a barrier surrounding this area, protecting me from monsters, similar to Thalia's Tree in Camp Half-Blood.

I blinked, suddenly feeling very tired and light headed. The world was spinning... spinning so very fast. My ragged breathing was uneven. Everything in my body was fighting to keep consciousness. _I cannot fall._

Yet the feverish feeling would not yet go away. I dropped my sword. I brought my hands up to my eyes rubbing circles around them. I fell to the ground, continuing the battle to stay awake. What was happening?

My heart was beating so fast, I thought it would escape from my chest. Unbearable pain erupted inside my head. The ringing in my ears was blocking every other sound that I had been hearing. I couldn't' do it.

 _Make it stop! Please! MAKE IT STOP!_

And it did.

It seemed like the world had stopped spinning. Everything was clear. The wind was blowing, the crickets were singing. And in the distance you could hear the ocean waves collapsing onto the shore and then receding back.

I was dumbfounded. My breathing was loud, I took deep breaths. What the Hell? What was that?

My eyes scanned the area for something, or anything that could have caused the break down, but there was nothing. Just the darkness.

I carefully stood back up, not bothering to pick up my sword. I stumbled back to the sleeping bag and collapsed upon it once more.

"OW!" I yelled.

I couldn't remember putting anything in my back pocket, but it was quite obvious something was in there from the pain it had just caused my rump.

I reached into it, pulling out... a ring?

It must have been. A ring, in the shape of a skull. I didn't remember getting this from anywhere. Nor did I think I had ever even owned a ring. Nonetheless, one shaped as a skull.

Without thinking much, I slipped it on the ring finger of my right hand. My dominant hand. I shrugged, closing my eyes and almost immediately, falling asleep.


	11. Mattie Explains a Few Things?

"WHAT. THE. HELL. IS. THAT?" Mattie shrieked.

I stared at my right forearm. A lot of things had happened last night, but I was positively sure I hadn't gotten a tattoo.

"I-I don't know!" I admitted.

"Wha- how?" Mattie ran a hand through his chestnut hair.

"Maybe we can can scrub it off?" I guessed.

"I have no idea. You don't even remember where you got it from?" Mattie questioned.

"I went to bed last night without it, and now I have it. So, no, I don't really do remember, Mattie." I shot back exasperated.

"Alright. Maybe we should just calm ourselves and wait for your dad to get back." He suggested.

I glared at him, for some reason that I couldn't place a finger on, I was very agitated with him.

"Should I take that as a yes?" Mattie tilted his head.

"Fine." I growled.

I took a look at my forearm, there were two very sharp black lines intertwining with each other reaching from my elbow to my wrist. Could this have happened during last night's episode? That was the only explanation. It would have been too dark to notice it at the time, it seemed a reasonable enough answer, but there was no way I was telling Mattie about it. It was either going to result in him being more worried than ever, or he was going to think I was delusional. None of those options sounded very appealing.

"Wait, was my dad supposed to come today?" I inquired curiously.

"Well, technically he wasn't supposed to be here until next month. But I'm sure I can send him a message somehow... get him to show up."

"No." I said flatly.

"W-what?" Mattie looked appalled.

"I don't want him here." I scoffed.

"But, Bianca..."

"NO." I screamed.

The ground split and cracks began to appear in the Earth.

Mattie winced. I hadn't had the best control of my powers yet, letting too much negative emotion out normally didn't end too well. I recalled the last time I had an outburst. It was during training and Mattie was pushing me too hard. I couldn't do anything, and in a fit of frustration I let out a wail and an abundance of skeletons had made their way out of the Earth. I won't say what happened afterwards, but Mattie wasn't able to train me for about a week that month.

"Okay," He breathed, "We won't contact your father."

My temper died down a bit. I wasn't really feeling the ambition to train that day. I was already tired from the night before, and now I had a weird mark on my arm that I got from who knows where. Unless... No. My mind wandered to the shadow people. The ones who I had seen when Evanna and her friends had rescued me and helped lead me to my father. Surely they can't have placed it on me. But if they did... what did it mean?

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the abruptness of Mattie's voice, "Hello? Earth to Bianca! Helllloooooo?!"

"What!" I spat.

"Well, I was just thinking. You know, you've been doing pretty well with your training and all, so maybe you'd like a day off?" He smiled.

"Uh-" That wasn't what I had expected, "I- I mean, I- yeah."

He gave me a thumbs up, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then!"

I got confused, "Wh-"

But Mattie was gone. Up and disappeared just like that. Where did he go?

I whirled around to see if he was just playing a joke, but I couldn't see anyone. The only sounds were the waves of the ocean in the distance, and the occasional rustling of the leaves as the wind sped through the trees.

I heaved a sigh. He'd said he would come back tomorrow, right? That meant I had an entire day to myself to just relax. Some down times to get myself back together, but sadly, that was not the case.

As soon as I had sat back down onto my sleeping back, a loud and terrible howl echoed through the woods. I lurched upward. Whatever the sound was, it was getting closer and louder at an alarming rate. I raced to the box of weapons, searching for it.

"There you are!" I mumbled.

I strapped the quiver onto my back and held the bow in my hands. A strong feeling of familiarity washed over me. A weapon I could use with ease.

The howling was frighteningly close. It seemed at any moment a large wolf would leap out of the trees. Growling and baring its razor sharp teeth. That was what I had been expecting. Instead, the trees all moved, the bushes and leaves rustled... and then... a little girl appeared in front of me. A girl with auburn hair who couldn't have been any older than 12. I lowered my bow.

"I hope you have not forgotten me already, Bianca." Artemis spoke. "Indeed you are no longer a Hunter, and it has been very long since we last saw one and other, but I hope you still remember who I am."

My jaw was wide open. I was so shocked. There was no way, why would Artemis-

"Use some words, Bianca!" She beckoned.

"I-I-" I dropped onto one knee, "Of course I remember you!" I said hastily.

Artemis smiled, "There is no need to bow to me."

I stood up, a definite blush creeping onto my cheeks.

"You're wondering why I am here then, I suppose." She said stepping closer, "As we were all to think that you were dead."

I nodded.

"That mark on your arm." She noted.

"Uh, I really don't know how it got there." I admitted once more.

"I know you don't." She smirked.

I frowned, then grinned, "So you can tell me!?"

"That is what I am here to do." Her voice remaining very calm.

"I put it there."

Those words took a minute to sink in. "You, what?!"

"I gave you that mark. And for good reason."

"Would you mind giving me your reason?" I could feel my temper rising up again.

"It was true, at first I didn't know if you would be able to handle it." She began, "But after you beat me in that sword fight... I knew you could."

Sword fight? "I never..." That's when it clicked. "Wait. Hold on. You... YOU"RE MATTIE?"

Artemis laughed. "Yes, your father might have noticed your "death" wouldn't go unnoticed by me. So I suppose that's why he asked me to train with you."

"So-so you're not dead?" I asked, although I knew the answer.

"Well of course not, I'm immortal." She chided.

My brain felt like it was about to implode.

"So, why did you get so upset about it just a couple minutes ago? You were going to tell my dad? Does he even know?"

Artemis seemed to think for a moment before saying, "I had intended to continue playing my role to you as Mattie, but I realized that The Mark would not allow me to do this. I wanted to give you the truth."

I closed my eyes. "Okay. Go ahead. Tell me."

I reopened my eyes so I was staring into hers.

"That mark that I gave you. It connects a weapon to your soul. It chose you as its wielder, and you must accept it as a part of you. This weapon is yours and yours alone." She spoke sternly.

I almost laughed until I saw the dead serious look on the goddess's face. Whatever this was, it was not a joke.

"Wait. Time out!" I made a T shape with my hands, "If this _weapon_ chose me as its wielder or whatever, where exactly is this weapon?"

Artemis raised her eyebrows. "Take the rings off your finger."

I suddenly recalled the ring I had found in my pocket the previous night. Sure enough, there it was on my finger. I hesitated, maybe for a minute, before peeling it off of my finger. Nothing happened.

"Now force your power into it." Artemis commanded, before I could even speak a word.

I decided it would be in my best interest not to ask any questions. I squeezed the skull shaped ring tightly in my fist. I focused all the energy I had into my balled up fist. Sure enough, after maybe not even a second, shadows emitted from my fist and without any time to open my hand I was clutching to a rod. But not a rod, because at the top was a rounded triangle shape with a surprisingly sharp point. What I was holding in my hand was a scythe.


	12. Mytho is Back

"WHOA!" I stepped back in shock. "Where did that come from?"

"I told you, it was the ring. This is your weapon." Artemis said calmly.

I gazed at the scythe. It was at least a foot taller than me, maybe more. It was entirely black other than three white intersecting striped on the blade. I noticed that, despite its size, it felt balanced in my hand. No sword had ever felt like this. Had Artemis known that? Mattie had told me that when I was good enough, we would find a balanced sword for me. Was this always her plan?

"So... this was what you were talking about when you said I would get a balanced sword?" I asked skeptically. "Cause this does not look like a sword."

"Well, no it isn't, is it? But this is definitely the perfect fit for you. Just as Percy Jackson wields Riptide, you now wield σκότος. **"**

"Ock- what now?"

"You could call it "Obscuros" in your language." She smiled.

I realized that she had spoken ancient Greek, although I had never heard it in my life. Probably something to do with being a demigod I guessed.

"Obscuros." I repeated, gazing up at the godly weapon. "And... it's mine?"

"It _did_ choose you." She chided.

My brain took a few moments to comprehend what was going on. Artemis was Mattie. That meant Artemis knew I hadn't died. Had she really been training with ,me for two months without fulfilling her godly duties? Why had she kept it a secret. _Well training with a goddess might be a little intimidating._ I had beaten Artemis in a sword fight and she had given me a scythe in return.

"Why did it choose me?"

"Because, Bianca. You are a very powerful demigod. I have no doubt that you match the skills of Perseus Jackson. Perhaps you go even farther above. It is no wonder why the blade would choose you." She explained.

"Percy? There's no way... I- I'm just-" I couldn't think.

"Just what?" Artemis demanded kindly.

"Just me." I sighed.

"And there is nothing wrong with that." She pressured.

"Sure. _Nothing_ wrong with leaving your little brother, your only family, to think that you're dead. And then have him go into depression!" I shouted.

"Well, your brother carries a heavy burden. His fate, his future depended gravely on your departure. Had things not been this way, the future would be... very different." She tried.

I remembered my father telling me something similar before. Explaining to me that I couldn't interfere with events that must take place in the future. But I really didn't care, if I could have just gone back to my brother...

"Bianca, there are duties I must attend to in Olympus and with my hunters. I knew I could not train with you for long, but I believe I have taught you enough so that you may defend yourself in any instance. Before I go, I must give you a gift."

I cringed a bit, "Will it involve another tattoo?"

She chuckled, "Of course not. You had a dog with you, did you not?"

I thought for a moment and then I remembered, "Mytho?!"

"Ah yes, a very pleasant name. You should know that Mytho is a wolf and she is very pleased to assist you."

"What?" I whispered. Mytho was a wolf... a ghost... and a girl.

"And she is not a ghost, Bianca. She was simply... a charm perhaps? To guide you in the correct direction. But she is very real, and I trust you to treat her well."

I was confused, but before I could ask any more questions a dark figure was appearing right before me. I watched in shock as the shadowy substance writhed and shifted until finally becoming a small wolf pup. The pup was a midnight black with emerald green eyes. She was adorable."

"Oh. My. Gods." I squealed.

"She may be cute. But be careful, she will not hesitate to bite an enemy's hand off when you are threatened."

"Oh wow. I- I mean. T-thanks." I looked up at Artemis.

"Treat her well and she will treat you the same. Good luck on your journey. I must take my leave."

"Thank you." I nodded.

She nodded back and with a flick of her wrist, she was gone. And just like that I was alone, again. I squatted down next to Mytho. She was about as long as my forearm and wasn't taller than a foot... maybe seven inches. I grinned and petted her back. She was so soft and fluffy!

"Come here!" I patted my lap. Mytho happily obliged.

I sat there with Mytho in my lap just scratching behind her ears and patting her backside for the gods only know how long. I glanced at the scythe which was sitting by my side. I touched it lightly with my fingertips and surged some of my power into it. It erupted into shadows which quickly disappeared, all that was lying there was the skull shaped ring. I slipped it onto my weak finger not wanting to lose it, unless it was like Percy's pen and reappeared in your pocket. I decided it was best not to test the idea.

I twisted the ring around a bit before noticing an inscription on the back of the ring, σκότος. It quickly translated to Obscuros through my eyes. I smiled lightly.

"What are we going to do, Mytho?" I asked.

Her ears perked up at the sound of her name.

"If I don't have a trainer anymore... what do I do?" I wasn't really expecting an answer.

Mytho barked twice, loudly.

"I don't know what you're saying, I'm sorry."

But, she didn't seem satisfied with that. Mytho leaped out of my lap and onto the sand. She barked and wagged her tail, and raced over to the weapons bin.

"You want me to train... with myself?"

She barked and raced around the bin.

"Okay. Fine." I said hesitantly.

I reached in to grab one of the swords that I had been using for the past two months, but that didn't sit right with Mytho either. She growled at me.

"What do you want me to do?!" I yelled.

She began to sniff my hand, the hand that I had put the ring on.

"Oho. Oh. You want me to train with this, do you?"

She barked.

I slipped the ring off, once more. This time, with little effort, the ring burst into shadows and the well balanced blade was in my hands. I could feel it. This was my weapon. It had chosen me. And I could feel it.


	13. The Shadow Man

After a month, I could summon the scythe with ease. After two months I could fight off a good amount of enemies. After three months I could combine my powers with the scythe. After four months I could wipe out an entire army. After five months, my dad told me to go to Delphi. After six months...

I groaned. I fell. I complained. Mytho barked at me every time I did any of those things. She was grew up to my stomach, and even I had grown a lot. Mytho was certainly my best companion. She had been by my side ever since Artemis had left her to me, when she was just a tiny pup! I couldn't help, but remember how cute she had been. Now she was a slender creature, she blended with the shadows and they blended with her. Her eyes were emerald green with the light of a fire. Her fangs were long and would cut very easily, they were so sharp. She trotted bouncily by my side, in a good mood somehow.

I tried not to think about how little progress we had made getting to Delphi. It had taken a lot longer than I had anticipated, even with shadow traveling. Since I didn't really know where it was I wanted to go, that made it difficult. And besides that fact, I couldn't go within a twenty mile radius of Delphi, so what was the point? My father had even told me it would prove better to walk there.

"My legs can't take much more walking today, you good?" I glanced at Mytho.

She barked once to tell me that she was still trucking.

"Of course..." I mumbled.

Although I couldn't be for sure, I could've sworn Mytho walked a little faster.

The sun was already setting and another day would be over. I might not have been trapped between mountains anymore, but that felt a lot more like home than the creepy forest did. I struggled to keep pace with my wolf.

"Slow down, would you?"

She growled.

"Fine! Whatever! Do what you want." I pouted.

I longed to be out of the woods. The sun was no longer visible through any of the trees and even with being a demigod I was still afraid of the things that could be lurking in the forest after dark. Please take this moment to laugh.

I heaved a sigh and sped up to a fast walk. The dark was setting in, and my battle senses kicked into hyper-drive. I was constantly checking over my shoulder, to the right, to the left. Even up in the sky, like someone would actually sneak attack from up there. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the worry the shifted about inside of me. I gained some comfort by occasionally glancing at Mytho for reassurance. I was on edge that night. Something was bound to happen.

I screamed.

I heard Mytho let out a cry.

The world was upside down and I could feel all the blood rushing to my head. _The ground. Why hadn't I bothered to check the ground!_ Of course, what monster would be keen enough to set up a trap? I looked around, there was no sign of movement...wait

"Mytho?" I called.

There was no bark or growl. _No..._

"MYTHO?" I cried more urgently.

There was still no response.

If that's how they wanted to play, that's how I was going to play. I shadow traveled out of the bonds and safely onto the ground below with ease.

"If you don't release my wolf right now... I swear to every god in existence, I will end your life or lives' in a very painful way." I growled.

There were a couple of rustles coming from the trees. I couldn't do much, as the only shadow was the one by the tree where I was hanging... but if there was a shadow near me there would have had to been light.

I whirled around, summoning my scythe. It clashed with a different object. I couldn't see very well in the darkness, but I could make out what seemed to be a man wielding... a stick? But I didn't have anytime to ponder on this because as soon as he missed he swung again. I rolled back forming a shadow in my palm. The man didn't seem to be at all shaken by this. He recovered before I even had time to blink, and was coming at me again.

There was something strange about this man though. The traps he set were very specific. He waited until night to strike, when there aren't any shadows and I was unable to simply use them. He knew my wolf was very powerful and he had taken her away. And only some type of metal would be able to withstand a scythe, right? But there was no clinking or clashing sounds when the weapons hit.

I dodged again and again and again. His blows kept coming. I through most of the things I had at him, the only things I hadn't resorted to was my scythe and summoning the dead. But those seemed like my only two options. I could've fled, but what about Mytho? I would never leave her behind, so I stayed and fought. I stamped one foot firmly onto the ground and brought up most of my will power. There had to be something beneath the surface. Anything just to distract this creep for one minute! And I felt something. Not only one, but two, not three! And I raised them all. Everything my powers could reach was willed up to the surface, mind you that was a lot.

I had an army of skeletons and zombies and whatever else separating me from the man. This time he appeared to be at a loss. He was finally puzzled. I took my chance, I silently commanded the army to hold him off., while I darted into the forest. I had to find Mytho. I sprinted as fast as I could the wind loud in my ears. My breath was ragged and uneven. I did my best to avoid roots and stones. I jumped and bounced an ran, not once taking a second look back.

 _"Mytho, please! Please be alright. Please come back to me!"_

She would come to me, wouldn't she? I continued to run, until I saw something. It was...light? It was very dim, but it was coming from the outskirts of the woods. I almost escaped. I surged forwards staggering out, and I was washed over by a bluish light. The sun was just beginning to rise. My heart felt like led and I wanted to vomit. I sat down taking in quivering breaths. I had dealt with a few monsters every now and then, but that. That was something completely different. And for the first time in a while, I felt down right terrified.

I heard footsteps coming from behind me. It sounded very fast paced and much lighter than a man's foot prints. I turned around, prepared to fight again, but to my relief what I saw was a much more pleasant sight. Mytho came bounding out of the forest and like a jet came spinning towards me.

"Oh gods!" I hugged her tightly as she proceeded to lick my entire face.

"I'm so sorry, girl! Are you okay?"

She barked.

Thank gods. Suddenly, everything appeared a lot less frightening. The sun was rising, we were out of the forest, and Mytho was by my side. And next time I ran into that man... I would be ready.


	14. The Prophecy

_"You've failed me."_

 _"Please! You must know, I would've have gotten her! I- I just-"_

 _"There are NO excuses, you shall be punished for your... mistake."_

 _"No... NO PLEASE! I SWEAR M'LADY-"_

 _"Away with him..."_

...

I opened my eyes to the bright light peeking through the horizon. The sun was coming up signaling a new day. I was still exhausted from the previous night's dilemma and having no time to sleep throughout the entire day. My stomach growled and I sighed heavily realizing I had no idea where to find some more food from.

Mytho lied by my side, curled up in a little ball with her tail resting in front of her snout. I reached out and slid my fingers through her silky smooth coat. If it weren't for that dog, I wouldn't have been sane. She was the only thing I had to talk to other than the occasional visits from my dad and checkups from Artemis. That was all.

I finally urged myself to get off my lazy butt and hunt for some breakfast.

"Mytho! Breakfast!" I called.

Almost immediately her ears perked up. Her eyes lit up with excitement. Her tail wagged back and fourth with excitement.

"Time to hunt."

She took off. Full on sprinting. I hastily chased after her preparing my bow to shoot down any small creatures.

We ran for a while. I was almost fully out of breath, but that didn't seem to set back Mytho. She sniffed around for not even five seconds before coming to a halt and pointedly staring at the area in front of her. Slowly one of her paws bent and she raised it up. It was the position she chose when she had her eyes on game. I reached into my quiver taking an arrow and pulling it into the bow. Careful not to step on any twigs, I made my way forward.

A snow white rabbit was sitting in the middle of a plain. It sat calmly and patiently as if awaiting something. It wasn't moving, and easy shot, but... for some reason I couldn't force myself to make the shit. Awkwardly I put down my bow. I stepped forward again, but as I was so distracted, I hadn't been paying attention to not stepping on twigs and crunchy leaves. The rabbit took off in a hopping frenzy.

And Mytho took after it.

"MYTHO! NO!" I screamed.

But she appeared to be pretty hell bent on catching the rabbit. I quickly packed my bow and arrow away and took off after Mytho. All the while I was calling for her, pleading her to stop chasing the rabbit. I was tired and not in the mood for a chase. I ran left and then forward and right and backwards. It was making me nauseous moving around so much.

I lost sight of Mytho, but I followed the sounds of her with my ears. Finally I stepped out of the plain, and onto a flat stony surface where I saw Mytho just standing there.

"You are a very bad wolf!" I scolded.

She hadn't acknowledged my presence.

"Fine! Ignore me, but you're the one who messes up..." I drifted off because I saw what Mytho had been staring at.

Maybe five miles ahead of us scattered about was what appeared to be stones. Many different stones. In the middle of all the rubbish, there was a circle. A circle sprawled out with an inner circle and more stones. In front of the circles, were three pillars. Beautiful pillars with what looked like some alter of some type on top. We had stumbled upon Delphi.

I gasped. It was beautiful. The sun was a spotlight shining down onto the pillars of Delphi.

"Whoa... we found it huh, girl." I stood my mouth agape.

Mytho barked and began in the direction of Delphi, and I followed quickly. We entered a wooded area and zigzagged so we would not lose sight of it. After maybe and hour of walking and jogging, we were face to face with it. It was enormous and beautiful.

 _"The man with daughters and sons..."_

 _"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call..."_

I listened to the whispers leaking from the place. How was that possible? The oracle was back in Camp Half-Blood. My head pounded, and I began to feel dizzy again. I blinked a few times.

 _"The fall of the sun, the final verse..."_

 _"Olympus to preserve or raze..."_

Different prophecies were merges together. I recalled one of the lines though... where had I heard it before? Olympus to preserve or raze? And I remembered Percy Jackson's prophecy. Or could it have been about someone else? There was of course Thalia Grace, and my little brother. It was clear it hadn't been about me. And from what my father had said, it wasn't Thalia either. And it wasn't my brother, I mean at least I didn't think it was. And if this prophecy was truly about the son of Poseidon, it would have to take place in August of this year, when he would turn 16.

I shook my head, it wasn't my issue to deal with at the moment. I trusted Percy would do fine in saving Olympus and by that, the world. I had other things to worry about, if I didn't succeed, it wouldn't matter what Percy had done, other enemies would still exist for fighting against the gods. I closed my eyes and stepped into the circles. The whispers bombarded me, they were ten times louder, hissing at me. I had to focus on something... someone.

And I thought of Nico, and my mother. Ignoring the burst if pain in my mind. I focused all my energy onto them, the two people I loved with all my heart. And everything was clear. I opened my eyes. The sun glared down onto the center of the stone circle.

 _"The Angel will prevail with ease_

 _With the dying breath of the inflicting disease_

 _A place she will travel where no man dare go_

 _And receive the assistance of an old defeated foe_

 _The cursed blade will come to play_

 _The gods to choose who leave and stay_

 _Still playing with the fates of many others_

 _May do damage upon her poor dear brother."_

I let every word sink into me. That prophecy was my own. I jotted every word down in my brain and hopefully I would remember it. But the only line that kept repeating in my head... _Still playing with the fates of others may do damage upon her poor dear brother._ What was that supposed to mean? Messing with the fate of who? I couldn't think of anyone's fate that I'd want to change other than my own. However I didn't have time to think about it. I had to find a place where no man dare go. Where would that be? I knew of a lot of places that no one in their right mind would want to explore, but there had to be some hidden meaning behind everything I had just heard.

I took a deep breath and wandered off the alter, and immediately I passed out.


	15. Oh My Zeus!

_Jason._

 _Jason._

 _Jason... Jason Grace._

 _He's the praetor of New Rome._

 _Heard he made the fifth cohort the best in the Twelfth legion._

 _Son of Jupiter, right?_

 _Yeah, he has a sister too, doesn't he?_

 _Thalia Grace, she's the daughter of Zeus though._

 _But they have the same mother?_

 _Yeah, weird huh._

 _Well Hades had two children as well!_

 _Yes, the Di Angelo children, but if I'm not mistake one of them bit the dust._

 _Oh my. How Horrid!_

 _She was a hunter, she met her end on the same quest Nightshade did._

 _And if I'm correct, the Grace girl took over._

 _That's true, though it was supposed to be the Di Angelo kid._

 _Really? She was so young._

 _And the Grace girl was a tree._

 _Ha! Suppose that's true._

 _Do ya reckon the Grace boy knows of his sister's existence?_

 _Beats me._

 _One is Greek and one is Roman, they would have to go to war with each other! Terrible the god's are._

 _If I'm not mistaken, the girl thinks her little brother is dead. At age two. What finally caused her to leave home._

 _Ah, that would make sense._

 _The Romans and Greeks might have to work together for this battle then, would you think?_

 _It is true that the Romans will play a small part, I believe, but Percy Jackson and the Greeks will be what really decides it._

 _I've always enjoyed the Greeks better, more pleasant._

 _Ah come off it, Romans have got a better fighting style!_

 _Oh please, don't tell me you'd be on their side if a war does break out, which I assume it would have to happen at some point._

 _I wouldn't care, I'm not getting myself involved._

 _Neither will I, but I have one last question._

 _What?_

 _Will the Grace boy wage war on the Greeks? I feel the Jackson boy would try a more peaceful approach, but you never know with that Grace boy._

 _I think there will come an attack on the Greeks, but not led by Grace._

 _Arellano, then?_

 _No._

 _Who?_

 _No idea._

 _..._

My eyes fluttered open and a blinding light fluttered through my line of sight.

"JASON GRACE?" I yelled without thinking clearly.

Mytho sat up and began to lick my face. How long had I been out? I remembered receiving the prophecy and then... what was that all about? Who was Jason? Praetor of New Rome, what did that even mean? Romans, Greeks? Was there really more than one type of god, more than just the Greek Gods? And if there was, Thalia was Jason's older sister.

"Do you know Jason Grace, Mytho?"

Mytho stopped licking my face and sat down. Her head tilted in confusion.

"Guess not, then?"

She just sat there, not moving.

"We need to find him." I said suddenly, surprising myself.

Mytho's head tilted even more.

Why was I so curious about a boy named Jason Grace? I didn't even know him for Hades sake! But something about my dream... I only knew I had to talk to him. For some reason I had to interrogate... or meet this person. I didn't know why, but I had to.

"He's... uh... important to our quest. I don't know why or how, but we have to find him."

Mytho barked, she understood.

"He's somewhere in New Rome..." I drifted off.

Where on planet Earth was New Rome? I had heard of a bunch of places, but NEW Rome, was not one of them.

All of the sudden, Mytho leaped up and barked like a mad dog.

"You know where it is?" I asked.

Mytho barked again, excitedly.

"You're going to have to lead the way then." I reminded.

She stared at me, sitting still again. Then she barked and glanced down to my hands.

"My... scythe?" I guessed.

Mytho continued looking at my hands.

"I have to shadow travel..."

She barked once.

"To... Rome?"

No response.

"Greece?"

No response.

"A-America?"

She barked.

"That doesn't make any sense! If it's New Rome, why is it in America?!" I shouted stupidly. "Alright, so where to in America?"

Mytho whimpered.

"You just ant me to shadow travel?!" I shouted questioningly. "I don't even know where I'm going!"

She barked.

"I'll... uh... try somewhere near Long Island then." I decided.

Mytho growled.

I groaned, "Why can't you just talk? You'd make this whole guessing game a lot easier."

Mytho lunged at my bow. Gripping it in her mouth. She then played dead.

"What. Are. You. DOING?" I yelled exasperated.

She continued to lie there and I realized it. My mind put together the puzzle pieces.

"Oh my gods! You mean it's in San Francisco! Near Annabeth's house and... and the- the guy.. uh. The enemy guy who holds up the sky!"

Mytho leaped up again and started yipping.

"Wow, maybe you're better at these guessing games then I thought." I grinned.

Without thinking much, I clutched onto Mytho's soft silky smooth coat and forced my energy into shadow traveling to America, specifically, San Francisco. I felt myself slip into my own shadow and drift off into the icy cold feeling that left your stomach feeling queezy. I thought of San Francisco. Although it was difficult because I had never been there before.

I was lost in the darkness, until finally, I breathed in.

"OHHHHHH!" I screamed.

I felt the solid ground beneath my feet and I released Mytho. I opened my eyes to reveal a pretty busy looking road with nothing really impressive. I blinked, were we really in San Francisco? My eyes fell upon something at the other side of the road, there was something over there... I was just about to mention it, when Mytho darted out between my feet and right out into the middle of the street.

"MYTHO NO!" I screeched, following her.

This was it. A wolf created by a god, and a demigod created by a god would perish because of cars. Fantastic. What a way to go.

I squeezed my eyes tight, bracing for impact, but none came. I was at the other side of the road, with Mytho casually wagging her tail, seemingly grinning up at me.

"Hush up, you monster." I scolded.

She just barked and trotted ahead.

"Where do you think you're going _now_!" I said through gritted teeth.

I lazily followed after her, not really paying any mind, just letting her lead the way. Until I heard a male voice shout,

"STOP! REVEAL YOURSELF!"

And I was being held by a boy with blond hair, electric blue eyes, and a scar on his lip, pointing a sword straight into my neck.


	16. Romans For Real

I stood dumbstruck at what was happening. This boy was straight up pulling a blade on me, and I didn't let people just do that.

"Explain to me why you're here. Did Lupa send you?" He interrogated.

Mytho gave a yip.

"Er-uh... y-yeah." I stuttered out.

He loosened his grip on his sword, but his guard was still up. This guy must've been a pretty good fighter to have sneaked up on me like that, especially since I was just walking about. How did he get in front of me without my noticing. And why did he pull out his sword so quickly, if I hadn't been a demigod and known about the mist, I'd have called him crazy. I needed to get the upper-hand on him, but I didn't know how. I could have just shadow traveled, but, maybe this guy was with the Romans, and if that was the case then that meant I needed to get him to trust me so I could talk to Jason Grace!

"Well," he said finally, "Then you should come in. It's surprising you survived this long on your own... and I'm not sure we can trust you yet. If you or your dog pull anything, I'll run this sword straight through you, got it?"

This guy was very blunt. And sort of cocky... "Okay."

I made sure to have Mytho follow calmly, but she didn't seem to need to be told to, she was acting oddly mellow in this whole situation, normally this blond boy would have been chewed to bits by now.

The boy led me into a tunnel looking place where he proceeded to open the doors and lead me through. The silence was very awkward, but then again considering he had a blade to my neck, I decided the best course of action was to keep my mouth shut.

We pressed forward, and upon entering the tunnel, we came across a river. We then crossed the river, but something about crossing it made me feel light headed and... just plain wrong. I looked toward my captor, who had a very stern and serious expression carved onto his face. I wondered if it would ever change. My eyes drifted down to his wrist where I saw in bold lettering:

 **SPQR**

And beneath that were several lines. I didn't spend much time worrying about it though, because when I glanced back up, I saw one of the most amazing things I had ever seen in my life. It was houses and building. Beautiful buildings. Statues and fountains and people. So many people were bustling about. I recalled Percy mentioning something about Annabeth being really into architecture or something.

But we didn't head towards the pretty village, sadly. We walked towards a place that reminded me of the big house in Camp Half-Blood, but they hadn't really looked that similar.

Before we got any closer I couldn't resist the temptation, "So... uh... what's your name?"

He didn't answer.

I rolled my eyes, "I know I'm still _untrustworthy_ but can you just give me a name to go with your face?"

He snorted, "I'm not required to tell you anything."

What the hell. I glanced down at Mytho and mouthed, _I'm not required to tell you anything_ , with a mocking tone.

The boy glared at me, and I gave an icy stare back. If he was trying to play at something, I wasn't letting him win. Not when he was acting all high and mighty on his throne that didn't exist.

We entered the house, it smelled oddly of cinnamon. Cinnamon made me remember Calypso and how I needed to remind the gods to let her off. I had spoken with my dad about it, but I didn't know if he had done anything yet.

"Reyna!" The boy called.

After about two or three seconds a girl, a beautiful girl at that came rushing out of another room. Her skin was tan and her dark hair was braided to one side. A purple cape flown behind her and I noticed that she also had the, **SPQR** , and some lines tattooed on her wrist. Maybe it was just some sort of weird fashion statement in New Rome?

"What is it?" She demanded fiercely, yet oddly gentle. I already liked her.

"Another one." He said casually. And it seemed his face might have actually softened at seeing the girl he had called, Reyna.

"Oh." She turned her gaze to me. "So you've trained with Lupa?"

Was Lupa the Roman name for Artemis? In that case yes.

"Uh, yeah." I tried to sound confident, but these people were... intimidating nonetheless.

Reyna narrowed her eyes and stared at me quizzically. "Have you been claimed?"

There it was. I didn't know the Roman name for Hades. It might've sounded weird if I used his name. Then again wasn't it weird that I was even a child of the big three?

Most of the gods were named after planets though in Rome or something right? Or the planets were named after them? Yeah, something like that. And of Jupiter was named for being the largest... then the outcast would have been,

"Pluto." I stated.

They looked taken back at first, but seemed to compose themselves pretty quickly.

"Are you sure?" Reyna asked.

"Positive." I confirmed.

They shared a glance and I had no idea what it meant, but they nodded at each other.

"You'll be joining the fifth cohort. There's a war game tonight, they'll explain. Be ready." She said briskly.

I was confused. Maybe if I had trained with Lupa, I would have already known all this. The boy had lowered his sword and replaced it with an out stretched hand,

"It's good to have you as a new recruit." He said, "The name's Jason Grace."

I almost lost it. This arrogant brat was Thalia's little brother? No way.

I swallowed my instinct to scream and slap him, and stretched out my hand to shake his. He made it a quick gesture.

"That was Praetor Reyna Arellano. She's only one of the praetors here, I'm the other." He mentioned quite proudly.

I wanted to roll my eyes again, but I couldn't. Not now that I knew this was one of my closest friend's little brother. If she did anything like that to Nico, I might've killed her. But then again, my little brother wasn't an arrogant ass.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Oh... er.."

I didn't know how to respond, I couldn't exactly use my real name.

"M-Maria. Maria Dian-tilo..." I shifted.

He bought it and I could make out the shadow of a smile.

Jason led me to wear I was going to be staying and I was confused once more. They didn't separate you into who your godly parent was, but instead what cohort you were in. I didn't know what cohort even meant. So I just nodded and smiled, and said okay a lot.

When I was finally free with some time to myself, after meeting Dakota and Gwendolyn, I bounced right onto a bed. I stared up at the ceiling. What had I gotten myself into?

 **A/N**

 **Okay, whoops. I know I probably got a lot of things wrong. But I haven't read the books in a while, mostly because I don't have access to them as I can't afford to buy so many. But still I just hope you still enjoy this chapter!**


	17. War Games

"So that's our attack plan." Gwendolyn finished.

I tried to act like I knew exactly what was happening, although I really didn't. Again I nodded and smiled and screamed "YEAH!" when everyone else did. The Romans were a lot different from the Greeks, and I didn't know how to handle it. The worst of it, I wasn't usually allowed to take Mytho around everyone else. The only time I had to talk to her was where she was being kept near the stables. Of course the one who suggested the idea in the first place had been Grace.

"Look a little nervous there, Maria!" Gwendolyn laughed.

I forced a smile, "Y-yeah. I don't know if I'll be much of a help..."

"Oh come on! Everyone in the Legion adds something, I'm sure you'll do fine!" She gave me a pat on the back and strolled off again.

I actually kind of liked Gwen. And Dakota. They were some of the only campers who didn't seem to mind me being a daughter of Hades Or Pluto. Or whatever.

I understood only to parts of her speech. One was that I'd be with grumpy red head daughter of Ares. Or Mars, as I had learned, on defense. It was kind of like a game of capture the flag, a game which I thoroughly enjoyed. We had won in a game against Camp Half-Blood members. I grinned at the memory.

The other, was that Jason Grace was on our team. Was I happy about this? No. Was I angry. Not really. In fact, I had almost no emotion except for disappointment at the fact that I wouldn't be able to get into a fight with him and knock him off his high horse. But, everyone here seemed to just adore him, whether it was because he was the Son of Jupiter, or for his looks, I did not know. But what I did know was that he was a skilled swordsman, but not as skilled as my friend, Percy Jackson. My friend, who was humble and kind, and not an arrogant ass.

I began to imagine what if would be like if those two ever got into a fight. One day the Romans would wage war on the Greeks, but it wouldn't be because of Reyna or Jason. I honestly couldn't imagine who it could be. Everyone seemed pretty chill... that is until I met Octavian.

"A daughter of Pluto. Hmm." He inspected me like I was one of his ridiculous stuffed animals.

I had to physically restrain myself from bursting out laughing at the amount of torn up stuffed animals he had just lying around his room. I was with Reyna, who didn't seem so fond of this son of Apollo either.

"Or maybe she's a Gracious." He mumbled. "The Lars sure do seem to think so."

"Wait, you mean those ghost things that hover around camp?" I asked.

"Yeah." Reyna said casually. I still couldn't get over how pretty she was.

"Whats a Gracious?"I added.

"Dirty Greeks." Octavian hissed.

"That don't exist." Reyna spat. "They're only Roman gods now."

 _Oh well I have some news for you!_

I learned that Octavian was the Augur, or the guy who gave prophecies. He had nothing on the Oracle though, his prophecy game was weak. All though I did notice something he had.

"Seven Half-Bloods shall answer the call?" I questioned.

"Yes, to storm or fire the world must fall." He added.

There was that one prophecy from Delphi that went along the lines of that.

"But before I could talk to Mr. Greek Hater any longer, I was whisked away with Reyna to prepare for the war games. And by prepare I mean literally die moments before the game.

They handed me a sword and helped with my armor (although I didn't really need it). And of course the one speaking to our cohorts was Mr. Praetor Butt.

He probably actually gave some good advice, but all I heard was, _blah blah blah. WIN._

And without much beforehand commissioning, the war game was ready to begin. I took off with the red head, Meredith. We held our ground, protecting our team's mascot thing. I had no idea what it was, it just wasn't a flag. Maybe that's what made this game different.

Almost as soon as the game had started, we were bombarded by a swarm of enemies. _Not doing to well with offense then, are ya Grace._ I thought. The way the Romans fought was unique, I hadn't really learned how they did fight, so I stayed with the way I learned. I had a lot of confused faces as I knocked them down, and some "Hmms" from Meredith.

I clashed swords with someone. I recoiled. They took their chance, too bad I was only faking it. I quickly side stepped and they ended up swinging at nothing causing them to stagger a bit. I smacked them with the butt of my temporary sword and they went down. I turned back around to see if any more guys were willing to take me, but there wasn't anyone. It was awfully silent too. Too silent...

Where was Meredith. Out of the corner of my eye I saw arrows being shot from the top of the castle. No, not from. To. They were climbing up the walls. Had they sieged the base already? A member from the opposing team dropped down from the wall. She glanced around suspiciously as if she knew that the previous swarm hadn't taken out everyone. I watched her from behind a pillar, the last pillar until you reached the flag. Or whatever. No one else came from the base's walls.

The girl was very sneaky as she made her way toward the item. I held my breath. A twig broke. Somewhere not near her or myself and the girl broke out into a sprint. She was almost there when I commanded the shadows to wrap themselves around her ankles. They obeyed and she fell, at least I thought she did. But before she could hit the ground she stuck out her arms and spun back onto her feet. Whoa.

I instinctively rushed from behind the pillar, but she must have anticipated it. She avoided my sword with ease, but I recovered too fast for any damage to be done. Our swords clashed. And again the clashed, three more times. I had drawn her maybe two inches from the prize that she was after. We needed to get theirs, and fast. I conjured the shadows to do my bidding once more. They charged in mini fists at the foe, surprising her and knocking her off her feet. I put my sword onto her neck. Game.

I had been a bit cocky. This girl kicked my knees harder then I had ever kicked Mattie's. But I wouldn't give the satisfaction of making a noise, so I bit my lip and dropped the sword. She took her chance this time and she ran straight past me after I fell.

I heard the ground split behind me.

"AAH" The girl screamed, in not fear, but shock.

I whirled around. She was being held by two skeletons.

"Oh. Sorry." I lied dully.

I didn't even move when the skeletons released her and sunk back into the ground. A horn sounded across the fort signaling the end of the game that my team had won. I grinned.

The girl took her helmet off revealing her identity. I went pale.

"R-Reyna?!" I stood with my mouth wide open.

"Haha! Don't give me that look. You really didn't think I would be the one to infiltrate your base?" She said smugly.

"Uh. No-I mean.. yes, or uh-"

"It's fine, Maria! You know you played really well, I've never met someone whose been able to stall me for so long. If you hadn't summoned those skeletons, you might've lost the game! They owe you one!" She winked.

For some reason my face felt warm. I could feel the blush creeping into my cheeks, "Well, you know.."

"Come on. There's gonna be a great feast, we don't want to miss it!" Reyna beckoned.

I nodded trying desperately to hide my face. Food would be good. I needed some, but my stomach had an awful feeling of butterflies, especially when I was around Reyna Arellano. I tried to shake that off, but failed. So all I did was bite my tongue and stare at the ground listening to her talk until we reached the Feast Hall.


	18. The Book

The food was certainly something, I had had my fill. My stomach was satisfied with all the contents that were consumed. I sat with my cohort and Reyna and Jason stopped by a few times to chat. Reyna's visit was pleasant, but Jason's was very irritating. He somehow found a way to continuously mention the fact that he had gotten the flag. And of course every single time all the people listening applauded his amazing skill. I had to be astounded by the sheer number of people that _liked_ him. Maybe it was just me, or maybe everyone else was too in depth with his glamour and glory that they hadn't paid any mind to the cocky arrogance.

This included my favorite person of the camp, Reyna. She _definitely_ liked Jason. And to be completely honest, it was a little more than like. And from what I witnessed, those feelings were mutual. Reyna seemed to be the only one Jason respected in this place. She was the only one who he believed to be greater than himself. It was... cute. In its own way.

Although, I didn't really interest myself much with the romantics in the camp and I spent most of my time hanging out with Meredith or Gwen. Sometimes I even found myself speaking with Dakota. But the encounters with Reyna always left me with those ridiculous butterflies and the weird warm sensation on my cheeks. I disregarded it as nerves to impress the praetor of New Rome.

I never dwelled on it too much.

It had been a month since I had arrived in February and dare I say I was certainly enjoying myself. I made lots of friends and usually didn't have to worry about monsters. I trained with people, but I still kept Mytho on her best game by taking her out for walks and practice lessons. Reyna had taken a liking to Mytho, just as I had taken a liking to her wolfish hounds, Argentum and Aurum. They only appeared when she was in need of assistance. But I had gotten to see them once or twice.

The other praetor of New Rome, however, did not much appreciate my wolf strolling around the camp. He insisted that I put her on a _leash._ Seriously, who did this guy think he was. He had a few supporters of this, but not many as most campers had met Mytho and knew for a fact that she would not hurt anyone. Jason and Octavian did not think so.

There were a few disputes between the blond brat and me. Well, both the blond brats. Blond brats with blue eyes. Disgusting. And therefore Jason Grace and I developed a mutual dislike. And I doubted that would ever change. So far nothing had really happened other than glaring and arguments that were usually broken up by Reyna.

I was sitting on my bed staring up at the ceiling when it hit me. I had no idea what I was even doing in New Rome. I had come searching for Jason Grace, but now it just felt like home. And Jason was enemy number one! I hadn't had any nightmares from the shadow people... or anyone at that. It was like the camp was a protective barrier.

I heaved a sigh. There was something I had to do. I had to figure out why I had to see Jason Grace. Surely it wasn't just so I could meet him?!

I tried to think of the prophecy. _Help of an old foe sounds about right._ I thought bitterly.

"Hey." A familiar voice rang across the room.

"Wassup?" I answered.

Reyna Arellano plopped herself down onto my bed.

"I need to talk to you about something." She whispered.

I got suspicious really quick, "Alright, shoot."

"Okay. You're insanely powerful for a daughter of Pluto. You understand?"

I nodded.

"And you don't fight like a Roman. I can't explain your style, but it's- it's not bad, it's just different."

I nodded once more, worry growing.

"Who taught you how to fight? Because it obviously wasn't Lupa."

A solid lump formed in my throat. What was I supposed to say?

"Uh-" But I appeared to be at a loss for words.

Reyna's hard expression softened, "Look, I don't care where you got your training from... I'm just curious."

"You're right." I was surprised at myself for letting that slip. "I wasn't trained by Lupa, I was actually told to come here by my father. Of course, Lupa would have probably eaten me. I was too weak as a child, so my father had me personally assisted and then he sent me here."

Reyna's eyes widened, "How did you..? If Lupa didn't... Oh my gods. You're serious? You were personally trained?"

Nothing I had said had been a lie. It was all true, except for the part about Lupa eating me, but Reyna seemed to have bought that. And I nodded.

"You can't tell anyone one though. Our secret?" I bit my lip.

"Of course!" She smiled. And she put her hand over mine.

I felt the rush of blood in my cheeks. What was happening to me?

"Remember, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll always be around, Maria!" And she removed her hand.

She waved as she exited the door. The butterflies in my stomach were now eating away my insides as well. I scowled, I wasn't that hell bent on impressing her... was I? I shook it out of my head once more. Who cared.

I had to figure out how Jason pertained to the prophecy. I thought for a while, shifting my position on my bed about seven billion times, but nothing came to me. So I just sat there as confused as I was before.

"UGH!" I screamed, frustrated.

I sighed again and decided to pick up something to read, although I didn't notice a library anywhere. I glanced around the cabin. I saw a few spare books around and decided to give one a try. I picked up one title, " _The No Good Ways of King Midas"_ I shuffled through the pages a bit. Nothing too interesting, but it was something to pay attention to for an hour or two.

I was on page 63,

 _He would not tolerate such disrespectful behavior!_

 _King Midas took a spell straight of of the most wicked of books and cast a curse upon the land._

 _The curse spread through the entire village, they all succumbed to a sickness. A disease today_

 _known as " **Ontranakos** ". This disease begins with the head, damaging it slowly and painfully._

 _It eats away at the cells of your brain. Your skin will grow sickeningly green buboes the size of_

 _an egg. These will fill with blood and eventually burst. The disease is spread through hand to hand_

 _contact. It is a so far, incurable disease._

"Ew." I whispered to myself, before returning the book to its rightful place. I was tired and needed some rest, and I collapsed onto the softness of my sheets.

Ontranakos? Hmm. What a scary disease...


	19. A Little Bit of Reyna Arellano

Among things such as war preparations, Jason Grace, and hiding my identity, I also couldn't find a way to figure out exactly why I was here. I had no real purpose other than having a place with friends and people whom I could enjoy the company of. I was safe, for the most part, and I was actually accustomed to have fun. But that wouldn't last, I could just sense it. Not with the shadow people all around.

I sat in the stable area next to Mytho. She sat with her head in my lap as I stroked her slick black fur. She quite obviously was asleep and I was intending to as well. My eyes were closed and I was feeling very tired.

"Hey Maria."

Aah, the only person I would talk to when I was so tired. "Hey Reyna."

"Did I wake you up?" She asked smugly.

"Well I wasn't asleep yet." I replied.

"Can I sit?"

I gestured to the spot next to me and she gladly took it.

We sat there just enjoying each other's company in silence that was broken when Reyna spoke once more.

"I have something I want to show you."

I opened my eyes, "What is it?"

"You have to get up, do you think you're up to the challenge?"

I rolled my eyes. "Hey, I do have the ability to not be lazy when I want to."

She nodded, "Well come on then!"

I pushed myself off the ground and followed Reyna around the camp and passed the statue god, we wandered through the main part of Rome for a bit as well. She led me toward a hill and we proceeded to climb it.

"Whoa." I murmured. The view was amazing.

"Yeah." Reyna smiled.

"How did you find it?" I inquired.

Reyna cocked an eyebrow, "When you've been here for almost four years, you get to know the place."

I gazed at her. She was just too cool.

"That's a long time." I stated.

"Not as long as Jason, he's been here since he was three!" She grinned.

Hearing her basically praise Jason made me shudder.

"You've been friends for a while?"

"He's my best friend." She breathed.

Her expression turned solemn, "I can't lose him. Especially with the war and everything. I don't know what I'd do."

I bit my lip, "Don't worry about him. I've seen the way he fights, he's really good. Nothing is going to hurt him. And besides with you at his side? Sheesh, I wouldn't want to be the enemy!"

Reyna laughed. Good.

"You know, Maria. I think you're right. And I wouldn't forget that we have you as well!" She punched my arm.

I blushed, "I- I mean. You know..." I couldn't think of how to respond.

Reyna chuckled again. "You're too humble!"

 _Jason Grace isn't_. I thought, but that thought quickly receded when I looked at Reyna's face. She was such a happy person, and with all that was going on I hoped that wouldn't change.


	20. Discontinued

I've been away for a while and I am truly sorry. This story idea had been inside my head for so long and I'm glad people have enjoyed it, but I lost it somewhere. I am discontinuing this story for now, but I have a few others in mind that may be a better way to get across the same concept. My writing isn't the best in this either so I am going to try and do a little better next time and hopefully I won't lose it! Again I am very sorry and I hope you understand! Much Love~ Noelle


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